A Little Unwell
by Wolfy
Summary: [Complete] Tidus is a morbid and psychotic serial killer. After being put into an asylum, no one can seem to get through to him and into his head to save him, not even Yuna, except for a college student studying criminal psychology named Rikku.
1. The Ghost

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Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy X or any of it's characters. This goes for further chapters as well.

A/N: Well, here I am, trying my hand at another FFX fic. It isn't exactly my strong point when it comes to fanfiction. (if you ever read A Fallen Angel, you'll know what I mean, ick!) I think I may have come up with something decent though, and hopefully you will too. But lemme know what you think with a review, okay? No flames, but constructive criticism is appreciated.

A/N 2: This is sort of a mixture of Hannibal and FFX, thus, it is an AU, so expect things to be a little different. Just a fair warning.

Wednesday, June 4th, 2003

1:04 am

Wooded area near the town of Besaid

The smell of blood and dead flesh filled the crisp evening air. A swarm of police cars were parked in a semi-circle just outside a patch of woods in the outskirts of Besaid. Most of them were not surprised by the scene that lay before them; they'd seen similar incidents five times before. They were used to the gruesomeness by now.

Officer Mitch Langry stood near his vehicle, a cup of steaming coffee in his left hand, his right hand on the hilt of his handgun. He knew he didn't need a weapon - no one ever did - but he felt better knowing it was right there if need be.

A female officer, Serena Davidson, approached him, a plastic bag held out in front of her. "Take a look at this," she said rather grimly.

Mitch set his beverage on the roof of the car and took it carefully from her. He held it close and saw a necklace inside the bag. A silver man's necklace with a triangular pendant on it. It was crimson with blood. "Finally, we got something."

Serena shrugged, taking it back from him. "We don't know if it was the victim's or the Ghost, but at least we've got something."

"A ray of hope?" Mitch said with a hint of a smile on his mouth.

Serena's gloomy expression did not change. "Something like that."

The Ghost was the nickname that had been given to the serial killer that had been terrorizing the town of Besaid for almost two months. Not once had any crime scene investigators found anything but a grisly murder scene, until now. Even if it was the victim's, there might be a fingerprint left on it by the Ghost. Mitch now had newfound optimism, and he was beginning to like it.

He began walking forward towards the area where the body had been found. Most of the police were beginning to leave, but crime scene investigators still remained, along with one other individual: police chief Gregory Walters.

****

"So Chief, looks like we finally got some evidence."

****

Greg shook his head. "We'll see, Mitch. Whoever this guy is, he sure as hell knows what he's doing. I mean, come on, six murders and not one slip up? Not one bit of saliva or blood from someone besides the victim, not one piece of hair, shit, not even a fingerprint for God's sake!" He paused to shake his head again. "This is one smart guy we have here, Mitch."

****

Mitch turned to look straight ahead, where Greg's eyes were locked. The mangled female body had been tied with fishing wire to two trees, being nearly ripped in half in the process. She was beaten, cut, bloodied, and the back of her head was bashed in by what seemed to be a baseball bat, or some other blunt object of the sort.

****

Mitch turned back to Greg. "And there's no connection between any of the crimes?"

"Not that anyone can notice. And you know as well as I do that the CSIs we have on this case are the best of the best. But the first was a man, middle-aged, thrown in a bathtub after being disemboweled. The second was beheaded and just left on the side of the highway. Third was that old lady who was locked in a vault, she suffocated to death. Fourth was dismembered and scattered in a farmer's cornfield. The fifth was skinned, and now this. None of the crimes have anything in common, nothing links them. Not sex, race, age, absolutely nothing."

__

Friday, June 6th, 2003

4:48 pm

Besaid Police Department Crime Lab

"Alright… let's see if we know who this Ghost is…" Amanda Mason waited for the computer to finish retrieving the identity of the fingerprints that had been on the necklace.

"LeeAnn Hoffman? This is a man's necklace… That doesn't make any sense…"

She typed in the name to get the profile and was highly disappointed. It wasn't the Ghost after all. The picture that came up on the screen was that of the victim's. Her prints were all over the necklace.

"She must've grabbed it, tried to choke him before he killed her." She looked at the broken chain. "Would've probably done it too if this hadn't have snapped."

Amanda decided to go down to the autopsy room and tell them her findings.

__

Friday, June 6th, 2003

5:13 pm

Besaid Police Department Autopsy Room

"Hey Stephen, I think you oughta know this isn't the Ghost's prints after all," she said, holding her nose as she approached him.

Stephen shook his head. He was obviously upset. "Damn it…"

"What?" Amanda asked, "You didn't find anything either?"

"No. This girl's - "

"Her name's LeeAnn Hoffman. This isn't a Jane Doe anymore."

"Well then LeeAnn's intestines are burnt. Say, from a chemical. It'll take you to find out what exactly, but it looks like it might've been rat poison, or a cleanser even. The cuts were made from glass. There are still shards left in her skin."

"Any prints on them?"

Stephen shook his head. "Not a chance. They're slivers, if you can even call them that. You wouldn't find anything, trust me."

"Alright then. Anything else?"

"The fishing wire nearly cut her hands off, if that's anything. Other than that, there's really nothing."

"Well what about the gash on the back of her head?" Amanda asked persistently.

"Definitely something other than a baseball bat. My guess is a steel pipe or something along those lines."

"Why not a baseball bat?"

"With the intensity of the strike, her skull was almost shattered. If it was a bat that did it, I'd find pieces of the splintered wood in with the bits of mashed skull. But there is none. So it was something that wasn't going to break easily."

"This guy's good…" Amanda said with a sigh.

"No," Stephen corrected her, "this guy's sick."


	2. Bloody Anniversary

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A/N: Wow… I'm so surprised with the reaction to this fic. I wasn't even sure I was going to post it until I was told I should. Hm, wonders never cease! Well anyway, thanks a lot for the great reviews! They make me happy, hehe. Don't forget to review this time around!

A/N 2: I know my summary says Tidus will be a "Hannibal-like murderer," but he isn't going to be a cannibal. lmfao, that's just too out there. Even for an AU I can't see Tidus eating people… eww! When I said Hannibal-like, I meant like the way he kills people, it's really weird, and how intelligent he is. Yeah, I know Vamp Queen, Tidus is no Hannibal, lmfao, but it's an AU, so let's just pretend, okay? - I can't stress it enough though, THIS IS AN AU. Expect some OOCness, it kinda comes with the territory.

Tuesday, June 10th, 2003

6:33 pm

Tidus and Yuna's residence; Besaid

Yuna stood in front of the stove, watching what she was cooking carefully. There was a roast in the oven, mashed potatoes on top, and a cheesecake chilling in the refrigerator. It was a rather special night. She and her boyfriend Tidus had been together for two years now, and she had volunteered to cook an exceptional dinner for the two of them, instead of them going out to eat. It seemed too cliché.

She heard footsteps from behind her and quickly turned, seeing Tidus standing in the doorway, a devious smile on his face.

"Tidus!" she scolded, "I told you not to come in here until I said so! You'll ruin the surprise."

He approached her slowly, wrapping his muscular arms around her waist and breathing in the scent of her perfume. "If I had it my way, I'd skip dinner and go straight for the dessert," he said lowly.

She giggled and pointed to the refrigerator. "Dessert's in there, Tiger. Sorry if I… disappointed you."

He pouted. "Well you did. I just hope you know that."

She turned around as she laughed, but a puzzled expression came to her features.

"What? What is it?"

Her brow continued to furrow. "Your necklace… Where is it?"

He reached up and felt around for it, but sure enough, it wasn't there. "Oh, I must've left it up in the bathroom after I took a shower."

She gave him a look. "You never took it off to shower before."

"I… Well, I did this time. If I wear it all the time, it'll get ruined won't it? From the water and stuff?"

She shook her head. "It's stainless steel, Tidus, you know that. It's pretty indestructible."

He kept quiet for a while. "Yeah well, I forgot okay?"

She shook her head and began to concentrate on the food again. "Whatever you say Tidus."

Tidus suddenly glanced at the clock on the wall. "Oh, man, Yuna, I have to go do something quick. I'll be right back."

"Wait a minute, you're not going anywhere," she told him firmly. "First of all, this is our anniversary and second, you're not going out by yourself with that Ghost running around Besaid."

Tidus rolled his eyes. "Yuna, I'm not a child. I'll be fine. But I promised this guy at work I'd run over his house and help him try to figure out what's wrong with his car."

"What?! Tidus!"

"I'm only seeing what's wrong with it. I'm not gonna fix it. I won't be gone more than an hour. Besides, I promised him I'd be there at six. I'm already a half hour late."

Yuna threw down the towel that had been resting on her shoulder. "Fine, go. This is only our anniversary, who cares?"

He took her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "_I _care. It's just, I don't wanna break a promise. I never break promises, you know that. I'll be back in no time, and then we can sit down and have a nice, romantic dinner, alright?"

She hesitated, then smiled. "Alright."

He smiled too and kissed her lips gently. "I'll be back, promise."

__

Tuesday, June 10th, 2003

7:28 pm

Tidus and Yuna's residence; Besaid

Yuna stopped setting the table and went over to the door, which had just been knocked on. She couldn't figure out who it could be that late, and with the Ghost God knew where, she couldn't be too careful.

"Who is it?"

"Besaid Police, ma'am."

Her brow furrowed. The police? What were they doing there? She opened the door halfway and peered out. "What do you want?"

"Ma'am, I'm Officer Mitch Langry. I just wanted to know if you could tell me if you know anything about this piece of jewelry we found at the last murder scene. It's the only evidence we have, and if you could help…"

Yuna had a gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach, but she ignored it. "I'll tell you what I can," she said.

Mitch turned to an officer that was standing behind him, taking a plastic bag from him and holding it out to Yuna. Inside the bag was a necklace. Tidus's necklace.

She took a step back, the oxygen being held in her throat like a vice. "That's… that's Tidus's…"

Mitch cocked his ear toward her. "Pardon me?"

"That necklace. It's my boyfriend's."

Mitch was quick to respond. "Can I ask your name, please?"

"Yuna…" she told him in a quivering voice.

"Yuna, I'm afraid I have some bad news. Since this is your boyfriend's, we think he may be the Ghost."

Yuna shook her head. "No… No! He isn't! He wouldn't do something like that!"

"Yuna, I know this may come as a shock to you, but this is some strong evidence. The victim's fingerprints are on it. And so is her blood."

"Well… he must've been trying to help her!" Yuna exclaimed frantically.

Mitch shook his head. "The fingerprints were left in the midst of a struggle. The CSIs can tell. Now please, tell us where he is so we can question him."

Yuna turned and grabbed the phone. "I'll prove to you he didn't do anything!" she shouted. She dialed his cell phone number and tapped her fingers on the table anxiously.

It rang for what seemed like forever until he finally answered. "Yeah?" His voice sounded gruff, as if he were having trouble breathing.

"Tidus… where are you?"

"My, uh… my car stalled out and I've been trying to push it to the gas station."

As the two were talking, Mitch motioned to the two officers that were with him to set up a tap on the phone line. They'd trace the call and find out where it was coming from, then move in.

"Tidus… I know this sounds stupid, but…"

Mitch made a motion for her to stop talking. He didn't want her telling him police were at their house. That would blow the entire plan.

'Just keep him talking,' Mitch mouthed.

Yuna was hesitant, but she nodded. She knew Tidus was innocent, and even if the police got him, they could prove that. He had alibis. "Do you… do you need me to come get you?"

"No! No, it's fine. I need the exercise."

"Okay… well, you'd better hurry home. Dinner's not gonna stay warm forever." She forced a laugh as she watched the police's actions.

Mitch leaned down to the male officer with him. "You got it?" he murmured.

The other officer nodded. "He's on the other side of Besaid, 863 North Albaroque Street."

"Alright, go outside and tell them to move in. We got him trapped like a rat in a cage."

Tidus laughed on the other end, but it didn't sound as strained. "I will be. And even if it is, there's always dessert right?"

"R-Right…"

"Hey, Yuna, is something wrong?"

"No, everything's fine."

Tidus sounded skeptical. "You sure? You don't sound yourself."

"No, really. I'm alright."

All of a sudden, the sound of two surfaces hitting together came through the receiver. Yuna was almost afraid to ask, but she had to know. "What was that?"

"Just me kicking the tire." He laughed again. "This damn car sure is giving me grief today."

Yuna still tried to act as collected as possible. "I told you to trade it in."

"Well I should've taken your advice. When I get home, I'm calling around to see what I can get for it."

_If you ever get home, _Yuna thought fearfully.

Then, she heard a new sound coming through. The sound of police sirens.


	3. Unwelcome Visitor

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A/N: Sorry this took so long to get up. It was written, but I guess I was just too lazy to post it. But also, FF.Net wasn't being very cooperative lately anyway. So it really isn't all my fault. Anyway, enough of my nonsense, lol, and on with the fic! Review please!

Wednesday, July 9th, 2003

4:45 pm

Besaid Police Department; Chief Officer Gregory Walters's officer

Greg ran a hand through his graying hair and sighed. "An entire month, and no one can get so much as a simple answer out of him. This is ridiculous…"

Mitch and another officer, Renee Everett, stood in Greg's office as well. "Sounds like he's going on our 'tough-nut-to-crack' list, isn't he?" Renee asked as she took a sip of her coffee.

Greg shook his head. "Whatever the case, he isn't going to give in to just anybody." He reached for a paper on his desk and handed it to the pair. "Look at this. It's the report one of the psychologists made just a few days ago."

"Talks in circles… plays mind games… uses philosophical references… asked why I thought he should talk to me," Mitch read aloud. 

"Sounds like a self-righteous bugger doesn't he?" Renee asked with a smirk.

Mitch glared at her. "You think this is funny? Did you happen to see the photos from the murder scenes? Did you think _that _was funny?"

Renee's tongue in cheek attitude quickly faded. "No Mitch, it isn't funny. But this really isn't all that difficult of a case. Sure, the questions only he can answer won't be laid to rest, but this getting into his head bullshit is pissing me off. He's a nut! What more is there to know? Put him away for the rest of his life, let him make baskets in some institution somewhere, and that's it, done deal."

Greg and Mitch were both quiet for a while, until Greg spoke. "I wish I could do that. But this case is in connection with the Besaid Criminal Psychology offices, and they agreed to lend us the information they find on any cases similar to this _after _they get it from Tidus. So there's no easy way out of this one."

More silence.

"Well wait, what about his girlfriend? Maybe she can get through to him," Mitch suggested.

Greg's eyes lit up. "Good idea. I'll call right now and see if she'll get down here."

__

Wednesday, July 9th, 2003

5:31 pm

Besaid Criminal Asylum; cell block 8-C

"Now Yuna, don't say anything to aggravate him. Keep him calm and try to get him to answer some of the questions we talked about," Greg told her as the two walked down the dark hallway. There were cells on either side, but only two had been occupied. That meant one of two things. Either there were still crazy killers out there who needed to be captured, or there just weren't any out there to fill the empty cells. Yuna hoped it was the latter. It was hard to put Tidus in a category with people like these. She hadn't accepted it yet, and here she was, asking him questions about it.

She nodded. "I'll do my best."

"That's all we ask," Greg told her. "He's the next to last cell on the right. If you need me, I'll be right outside."

She nodded again and listened to his footsteps as he walked in the opposite direction. She took a deep breath and treaded forward.

She approached the cell she had been told Tidus was in and turned to face it. There, seated on the cot at the right side of the small cell, was Tidus. She was surprised to see he didn't look miserable, as she'd expected him to be. He almost looked happy, and she couldn't imagine why.

"Tidus…?"

He didn't jump. He hadn't seen her there, but he wasn't startled when she called his name out of nowhere. He turned his head to face her. "Yuna."

She nodded. "I, um… I wanted to talk to you. See if I can try to find out from you what happened."

His face turned grim. "For you or for them?"

"For me," she replied quickly. "For me, Tidus. I'm the one who wants to know."

He laughed and shook his head. "Yuna, you're so easy to read. I could always see right through you like glass." Yuna took her eyes from his and shifted her weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "They wanted you to come down here, thinking that since you're my girlfriend, you'd be able to get through to me and I'd tell you everything."

"Tidus that's not - "

"Oh come on! Don't look at me and tell me I'm wrong. You think I'm in here because I wanted to get caught? No. I'm here because you had to call me! You just _had _to call me up so they could trace the phone lines, didn't you?"

"Tidus, I was trying to prove to them you were innocent!"

He smiled at her futile attempts to right things. "Well that was one hell of a plan Yuna, because I'm _not _innocent!"

Tears were welling up in her bi-colored eyes. "Tidus… just tell me then. Me. Why did you do it? Why would you do such a thing?"

His mouth formed a straight line. "You can't handle it. And… I won't hurt you that way."

"Tidus, please…"

He turned away from her. "Yuna, just go."


	4. The Chance Of A Lifetime

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A/N: Wow, I still can't believe how well this fic is doing! Glad to hear you all like psycho Tidus, hehe. I'm also glad to hear this fic sounds realistic and everything. That means a lot to me. Another thing I'm glad about (yeah, I know, there's a lot) is that this fic is different. A lot of you said this, and I didn't realize it until now. I'm glad to have done something original instead of the cliché FFX fics. Oh, and to The Jack of Spades: Glad you feel the same way I do about Tikkus. There really should be more! And I'll be sure to keep the cast in character. Well, all but Tidus of course, hehe. I haven't thought about the other characters making an appearance, but that isn't a bad idea! Thank you all so much for the great reviews! I look forward to seeing more for this chapter, okay? And for those of you waiting for Rikku's appearance, here it is! 

Thursday, August 2nd, 2003

12:25 pm

Luca College Campus; cafeteria

Rikku tossed her long blonde hair aside as she laughed along with her two best friends, Sabrina and Tara. The nineteen year old was a freshman in college, studying criminal psychology. She was one of the few females in the class. Rikku knew that particular career was dominated by males, but her interest in the field outweighed all of the obstacles. Besides, she was intuitive and good at reading people. In fact, her professor, Mr. Reid, told her once she had "criminal psychology in her blood."

"Oh my God, you didn't actually tell her that, did you?!" Rikku shrieked, her laughter echoing throughout the crowded cafeteria.

Sabrina nodded, a wild look in her dark eyes. "Yes! What was I supposed to do? Let her walk around with a dead animal on her head?"

Tara put a hand on Sabrina's shoulder. "You smile and nod, Sab, smile and nod."

Sabrina rolled her eyes and took a bite out of her sandwich. "I didn't wanna be rude. If I didn't tell her she would've been twice as mad."

Rikku's mirth slowly dissipated as she continued to eat her lunch, listening to Sabrina and Tara's verbal abuse from across the table. Rikku always played referee with the two, always the good Samaritan of the group. Not necessarily a goody-two-shoes, but she was closer to the title than she wanted to be.

After a few rounds back and forth, the two girls' attention turned back to Rikku. "So how's that class going?" Sabrina asked, turning to Tara. "What's it called?"

"Criminal psychology," Rikku told her.

"Hey, are you gonna be like Clarice from Hannibal?" Tara asked with a grin.

Rikku gave her a glare. "It isn't like that Tara. It's really hard. There's so many different scenarios and patterns to remember, and a different way to go about each of them."

"Shoot, sounds tough," Sabrina commented.

"But you're really good at it," Tara told her, trying to make amends for the somewhat rude comment she'd made before. "I'm sure you'll be fine."

Rikku smiled again. "Thanks. As long as it doesn't get any harder, I think I'll be alright. I can keep up with this pace, with some work."

"Don't say that," Sabrina said, "You're really smart, Rik. You can get into any crazy lunatic's head with ease." She winked to show good nature was in the remark. Rikku smiled.

"Well I sure hope so," Rikku said as she stood. "But I have to go over to Mr. Reid's room now."

Tara and Sabrina looked confused. "But you don't have any class today. You said so yesterday," Tara said.

"I know, I'm sorry, but he asked me to meet with him this afternoon. He said he wants to talk about something with me."

Tara and Sabrina glanced at each other evilly. "Ooh, think he's gonna pop the question?" Sabrina said with a giggle.

Rikku rolled her eyes and had to laugh. "Give me a break! The guy's at least fifty!"

"Hey, you never know. Maybe he's the type to rob the cradle," Tara told her.

Rikku shook her head. "Look, I gotta fly. But I'll see you both later. Maybe we can go see a movie?"

They nodded. "Sounds like a plan!" Tara said.

__

Thursday, August 2nd, 2003

1:03 pm

Luca College Campus; Mr. Frederick Reid's Criminal Psychology classroom

"Rikku! Glad you could make it!" Mr. Reid bellowed cheerfully as Rikku came in through the door.

"Hey Mr. Reid, how are you?" Rikku asked as she crossed the room and stood before his desk.

"Fine, fine. And you?"

"Pretty good. Just had lunch with some of my friends."

_"Ooh, think he's gonna pop the question?"_

"Hey, you never know. Maybe he's the type to rob the cradle."

She had a hard time stifling her laughter as the words of her friends replayed in her head, but she did a pretty good job, considering the fact that Mr. Reid didn't say anything.

"That sounds nice. But I have something to discuss with you. Something rather important."

Rikku cocked her head to one side. "What's that?"

He folded his hands in front of him and continued. "Well, it's no secret that you are the best student in this class Rikku. You get A's on every test and quiz, give insight like I've never heard, and just come across as a person who knows what she's doing."

Rikku blushed. "Well, thank you Mr. Reid. That's very nice of you."

He smiled. "I only say it because it's true. But, I didn't call you here just to compliment you. I called you here because there's a job opening for you."

"A… job opening? I don't understand…"

"Over at the Besaid Criminal Asylum, they have someone in there that no one can get through to. No one can get him to answer their questions with anything but riddles; he speaks in circles. After finding this out, I called them and asked if they would give one more criminal psychologist a shot. And, they said yes."

Rikku's eyes widened and a grin appeared on her face. "I'm going to talk to a real criminal?! Oh my God, Mr. Reid, thank you so much! This is the best opportunity I've had all year!"

Mr. Reid beamed as well, happy to see his star pupil so happy, and getting the chance of a lifetime. "Well I'm glad you're happy about it. Most people wouldn't look forward to talking with a crazed, psychotic murderer."

Rikku winked at him as she turned to leave. "Well I'm not most people Mr. Reid, remember that."


	5. First Impressions

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A/N: Yay! More reviews! Thanks so much!! I know this one took a little longer than the others did, but that's because I had all of them written long before posting them. But I'll try to speed things up a little just the same. This is the chapter you've been waiting for. Rikku and Tidus finally meet! I hope I make this good and up to your expectations. But let me know in a review, kay?

Friday, August 3rd, 2003

4:12 pm

Besaid Criminal Asylum; cell block 8-C

Rikku nodded to Greg for the second time. "I told you, I'm fine. If I need anything, you're right outside. I know."

Greg rubbed the back of his neck anxiously. He still wasn't fully okay with having someone so young talk to a real, cold-blooded, crazy killer. But, there was no one else to try out. Tidus turned away and shut out every single criminal psychologist they sent to him so far. What could it hurt to try one more?

He stepped backwards and shut the door, taking a breath and hoping for the best. He heard Rikku's footsteps for a few seconds at first, but then they faded and he heard nothing.

Rikku walked past the cells, the two people Yuna had seen not paying any attention to her presence. She shuddered for multiple reasons, but held her head high and continued further into the room. She was there to do a job, and she sure as hell wasn't going to turn back now because of a couple weirdos who were locked up anyway.

She finally reached the next occupied cell, and was surprised at what she saw. Lying in the cell with his eyes closed gently, was a blonde haired boy not much older than she was, at least he didn't look it. He was even quite handsome; certainly he didn't look like the type of man he was being labeled as.

She tried to make noise without actually speaking. She scuffed her shoe on the cement floor, coughed quietly, and cleared her throat. But the man did not open his eyes or even move the slightest bit.

"Tidus?" she said, her tiny voice echoing great lengths in the hollow room.

A sneer appeared on his face, but his eyes remained closed. "Ah, another one, eh?" He sat up now, opening his eyes to reveal them to be a striking blue color. "How nice."

"I'm Rikku, a student at Luca College, and - "

"Student? Aren't you afraid to be here with me? Alone…" His voice grew giddier as he adjusted his position on the cot.

Rikku remained unfazed. "In case you didn't notice, there are steel bars three inches in diameter separating us. I'm not afraid of you."

Tidus nodded. "So you're a smart one. Well, I can't say I'm surprised. You all are usually very smart. With your textbooks and documentaries and such. You're all so well read." He laughed at his own humor.

Rikku sat down, just noticing the chair that had been left for her. "Well thank you for the compliment. No one's ever called me well read before."

Tidus's gaze hardened. "You don't recognize sarcasm when you hear it?"

"Of course I do. I was being sarcastic too."

Tidus seemed taken aback, but the change in his stature did not last long. "Well, smart, sarcastic, and also rude. What a résumé."

Rikku shook her head. "Can we just move on please?"

"Of course. What would you like to talk about? Sports? Politics? The weather?" He laid back down on the cot, putting his hands behind his head and staring up at the ceiling. 

Rikku sighed. "Why don't we start off with why the hell you did what you did?"

Tidus sat up again. It seemed he never sat still. "Straight to the point. I like that in you people."

"I see. So why haven't you told anyone anything yet?"

Tidus clicked his teeth. "It's too complicated for you to understand. No one in the world could _possibly _understand the reasoning behind what I did."

"Why?"

Tidus glared at her for the never ending barrage of questions, but he expected it. "Why what? Why is it too complicated?"

Rikku nodded, pushing some blonde hair behind her ear. "Yes. And what does it take to be able to understand?"

Tidus stood again and Rikku almost sighed out of annoyance due to him frequently repositioning himself. He crept towards her and placed his hands around two of the bars, putting his face right in front of hers. "You have to be me," he whispered huskily.

He stared into her eyes for a long time until she was so uncomfortable that she shifted her gaze to the floor. She heard him snickering as he walked back further inside the cell and leaned against the back wall.

"So you're never going to tell anyone why you killed those people?"

Tidus shrugged. "Oh I don't know. I just might take it to my grave. Then again, who knows? I guess it all depends on you now doesn't it?"

Rikku shuddered again, this time due wholly to fear. Even though this man was behind bars and couldn't physically harm her, his voice and ways about him just sent a chill up her spine.

"Cat got your tongue?" she heard him ask. She knew he was smiling. She could hear it in his tone.

She looked back up at him, meeting his eyes. "If I play my cards right, you'll tell me everything I want to know. Is that right?"

Tidus hesitated a moment. "Okay, deal." He sat down, never taking his eyes off her. "So… Why are you doing this? You don't look like someone who'd be interviewing insane criminals."

Rikku blushed a little, then quickly forced the heat from her face. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"I want to know all about you. It's only fair if you want me to tell you all about me right?"

Rikku thought a moment, then nodded. "Okay, that's fine. Well, I want to do this because… because it interests me. I was always intrigued by it." She stopped a second. "That good?"

He nodded. "Not the best answer, but alright, I'll take it. You single?"

Rikku's eyes widened and her heart started racing. "That's a personal question. You shouldn't be asking me things like that."

Tidus rolled his eyes. "I'm not hitting on you. I'm just asking. Are you single or not?"

Rikku looked down at the floor. "I'm single," she murmured.

"Why in the world do they all freak out when I ask that?" Tidus asked himself.

Rikku perked up once again. She lifted an eyebrow and looked at him quizzically. "You ask the same thing to everybody?"

"Yeah. No one ever bothers to tell me things about themselves, so why should I tell them about me?"

"I understand how you'd feel that way."

Tidus chuckled. "You're the first person to tell me they understood anything about me, let alone the way I felt."

"What about your girlfriend?"

Tidus screwed his face up at her. "Yuna? Please. That woman couldn't understand any of this if it crawled up and bit her on the ass."

Rikku almost laughed, but she stifled it with much effort. "You don't love her then?"

"Of course I do!" he snapped. "I love that woman to death. But she'd never be able to handle it. I could never tell her."

"If you love her so much, and she loves you, why wouldn't she understand?"

Tidus didn't answer the question, he simply ignored it. "They come in here, ask me things and expect me to just tell them. Like they even deserve to hear it, any of it."

"They're not worthy you mean."

Tidus looked at her. "Hardly."

"Well what makes someone worthy, in your eyes?"

He was quiet for a while. He opened his mouth to answer her, but the sound of the door at the opposite end of the room groaned open. Mitch poked his head into the room. "Rikku, time's up."


	6. Getting Inside

**__**

A/N: I'm really sorry that this hasn't been updated in a while. But I've been really busy with birthday parties, family reunions, and graduation parties, so writing hasn't been something I've been able to do. But now I'm gonna sit down and write the next chapter. Don't forget to review!!

Responses to Reviewers

The Jack of Spades - Thank you for the great review. And I'll make an attempt to make the chapters longer, okay? Thanks for pointing that out!

Saturday, August 4th, 2003

8:11 am

Besaid Police Department; Chief Officer Gregory Walter's office

Greg shook his head as he turned towards the window behind his desk. He knew it would be a bad idea. He just knew it. But of course, he was swayed to go against his gut feeling. It wasn't the first time, but it would certainly be the last.

Rikku, who was seated in a rather uncomfortable chair on the other side of Greg's desk, watched him carefully. "Greg?"

He jumped at the feminine voice. He had almost forgotten she was even there. He turned back around and looked into her jade eyes. "Look, I really think it would be best if you resigned from Mr. Tidus's case. There's really no getting through to him."

Rikku's eyes widened and she rocketed out of her seat. "That isn't true! I was so getting through to him!" She winced inside at her immaturity. _I was _so _getting through to him? What am I, five?_

Greg was quick to reply. "Rikku, this isn't a game. I can't help but feel you're too young and inexperienced to be interrogating someone this sick anyway."

Rikku raised an eyebrow. "How do you expect me to get the experience I need if you don't let me try?"

This time, Greg was at a loss for words.

She tossed her blonde locks aside. "That's what I thought."

"I'm sorry if I offended you, Rikku. This guy is just really pissing me off. No one can get him to make any sense."

"If you let me go back out there, I know I can get through to him. Just give me some time. You can't rush these things."

Rikku's eyes looked deep into Greg's. Her eyes reflected the same amount of knowledge that were in his elder orbs. He saw that for the first time. She was definitely wise beyond her years. He sighed and submitted to her desperation. "Fine. But don't come crying to me when he shuts you out too."

Rikku smiled a little. "Trust me. I can do this. Just give me a chance."

Greg smiled back. He still wasn't fully sure about Rikku's abilities, but he was willing to let her try a second time at the least.

__

Saturday, August 4th, 2003

8:22 am

Besaid Police Department; hall

Rikku stepped outside Greg's office, glad that she had gotten her way. She turned and began heading for the door, but a male's voice calling her name caused her to turn back around.

She saw an unfamiliar man walking towards her. He has messy dirty blonde hair, and wore a police officer's uniform. Obviously, he was on the force. And obviously, he knew who she was. But she certainly didn't know him.

He made his way towards her, flashing her a small smile. "Rikku… right?"

She nodded. "I'm Rikku. And who might you be?" It was easy to see she was annoyed by not knowing who he was.

"Officer Mitch Langry. I'm on the Ghost Case."

Rikku's brow furrowed. "The Ghost?" She thought for a moment. "Oh, you must mean Tidus."

Mitch nodded. "Right. Tidus." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, I was just curious to see how things are going with him. You did get to talk to him didn't you?"

"Yes, I talked to him. But it's confidential. Only Greg sees my report." She turned and began heading for the exit again. This time, Mitch followed and walked beside her.

"Come on, Rik. I'm on the case too. Besides, Greg will probably end up telling me anyway."

Rikku stopped and looked at him incredulously. "No one calls me that. My name is Rikku. And if you and Greg are so buddy-buddy, why don't you ask him yourself?" She started walking again for the third time, hoping Mitch would take the hint that she didn't want to be bothered.

He didn't.

He put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. She spun around, glaring at him furiously. "I'm sorry… Rikku. I just really care about this case. That's all. And why would I want an old geezer telling me when I could be told by a beautiful girl like you?"

He grinned, but she didn't so much as crack a smirk. "Is that supposed to be a line?"

"Does it sound like one?"

"Yes."

Mitch sighed. "I'm only gonna ask you one more time. Will you please tell me what's going on with him?"

"I'm only going to tell you one more time then. No."

__

Saturday, August 4th, 2003

11:24 am

Besaid Criminal Asylum; cell block 8-C

As Rikku made her way towards Tidus's cell, she thought about how she'd acted with Mitch. Was she overreacting? Should she have just told him what she and Tidus talked about? She couldn't understand the difference in her personality before she came onto the case, and now that she was on it. She wasn't that same fun-loving, flirtatious, carefree girl anymore. She was so serious all the time. She didn't know if that was good or bad.

She stood in front of his cell. He appeared to be napping, but just as she was about to call his name, his eyes sprung open. A grin developed on his face. "You again."

She nodded. "Care to pick up where we left off yesterday, Tidus?"

He stood and sat at the bottom of the bed, facing her. "Of course, of course. Let's get right down to business."

_Good, _she thought. _I don't wanna have to wrestle him to cooperate, like some people I know…_

"So I asked you… what makes someone worthy in your eyes?"

Tidus rolled the words around in his mind. "You know… I don't know."

Rikku rolled her eyes. Looked like he was going to be difficult after all. "Yes you do. You know very well. You just want to be difficult."

He shook his head. "No, no. I really don't. I just look at them, and I know I can trust them."

Rikku decided to take a shot in the dark. "Do you feel you can trust me Tidus?"

His eyes darkened. "Do you trust me?"

She was taken back by the response she received. "I… I don't know."

He shrugged. "Then I don't know if I can trust you."

_Dammit…_

"We'll move on then. What about your childhood?"

Tidus chuckled. "Just like in the movies. Do you have to ask about that or something?"

"I know it's cliché, but yes, I'd like to know."

"You'd like to know… Well what if I don't want to tell you?"

Rikku sighed. "Tidus…"

He slammed his fist against the wall, looking at the new wound on his tan hand. He smiled, but it was an unhappy smile. Rikku saw that, but because of his violent outburst, didn't ask about it.

"I want you to go," came his quiet voice, low and quivering.

"Tidus, I'm not leaving until we talk some more."

He turned to her, looking her square in the face. "I don't feel like talking to you anymore."

Rikku kept her anxiety at bay. She didn't want to show it, but she was suddenly very afraid. "Tidus…"

"No!" he shouted, squeezing his eyes shut and gripping his skull. "Leave me alone Dad…"

****


	7. Journey To The Past

**__**

A/N: Wow… That's really all I can right about now. I honestly didn't think this fic was gonna become so popular. I think I might've said that before, but oh well, I think it deserves repeating, lol. But thanks to all of you reviewers! It means so much to me, and keeps me writing. Don't forget to review this one, okay? And please note that I did my homework about mental disorders for this chapter, so go me! Hehe

~*Responses to Reviewers*~

Cryptic Dragon - No, I do not hang out with crazy people, lol.

frost - Thanks for the suggestions! I'll be sure to take them into consideration!

Princess of Mirrors - Wow, you did a lot of guessing in that review! lol I won't tell you if anything you guessed is right (don't wanna give anything away!) but I will say they were very good guesses!

Songstress Lenne - Omg, you're more addicted than I thought! lol But hey, that isn't a bad thing, like I told you. It means you're dedicated, hehe. In fact, you loving it so much is what made me sit down and write this chapter. So enjoy!

Monday, August 6th, 2003

10:23 pm

Luca Apartment Complex; apartment 3A

Rikku sat at the kitchen table in her small apartment, a cup of coffee in her hand. Normally, she'd be in bed by ten. But not this particular night. She was busy thinking about Tidus, and what had triggered such an outburst. She shook her head at her thoughts. 

No, I know what triggered it, she thought. _His childhood. Something about his childhood. And his father. _

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud crash outside. She jumped, spilling the coffee all over the table, and herself. Cursing quietly, she sopped it up with a large amount of paper towels. Then she stood and looked out the window, trying to find the cause of the noise. There was nothing, except a garbage can turned over. 

She sighed and moved to the couch. "Must've been a stupid cat or something," she said to herself with a yawn. "Maybe a raccoon…" Her words were being slurred as sleep began to overtake her. 

She took another sip of coffee, to try and jolt herself awake again. Never did she drink coffee before she began working on this case. It totally drained her, and coffee seemed to be the only thing that kept her going. 

She tried to piece everything together again. But there was hardly any pieces to work with. She only had one break, and that was Tidus's mention of his father. She was going to need a background check on him. She wanted to know everything. Where he grew up, who his parents were, how they treated him, if he was ever hospitalized as a child… So many things to find out, and she had no idea how to go about it without asking directly. And God knew if she was going to even get a straight answer out of him.

She ran her finger along the rim of the coffee mug, her mind still on Tidus. He acted almost schizophrenic, but she knew he wasn't. He didn't have multiple personalities or anything of the sort. She could safely rule that out at least. 

She sighed and rubbed her temples, feeling a pang in the back of her skull. If she got a headache now, she'd never fall asleep. She stood up to get some aspirin from the nearby cupboard, going over other possibilities as she did so.

_Maybe he's bi-polar? _she thought as she took out three pills and swallowed them with a glass of water. She shook her head. _No, it's hereditary. His father would have nothing to do with it, not intentionally anyway._

She drank the rest of the water, still thinking. "OCD?" This time, she spoke out loud. Her face grew hot, thankful no one could hear her talking to herself. They would think _she _was the crazy one.

_No, he's not Obsessive Compulsive either. Well… maybe he has an OCD about murdering? _It was a farfetched idea, but she didn't rule that one out. Still, that didn't explain the father issue.

Just as she was about to give up for the night, another idea suddenly struck her. "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder!" she exclaimed, and immediately clasped a hand over her mouth.

_Shit… I really have to stop doing that…_

But it fit perfectly. PTSD was caused by a trauma. War, a death, rape, domestic or sexual abuse as a child… That would definitely explain why he lashed out when talking about his father. 

Her heart suddenly ached. So maybe he wasn't just a cold-blooded killer after all. He was simply traumatized. It was a mental illness, not something he chose to do willingly. She wasn't sure if that was all there was to it, but it had to be a big part. 

Now, with newfound leads, she finally went to bed. She'd have to talk to Greg in the morning.

__

Tuesday, August 7th, 2003

12:46 pm

Luca Apartment Complex; apartment 3A

Rikku listened as the phone rang twice before hearing a voice on the other end. It wasn't Greg, although she'd called his office directly. Her brow furrowed. She recognized the voice, but couldn't put her finger on who it was.

"Hello?" the voice said, sounding sleepy.

"Um… Can I speak to Mr. Greg Walters please?" Rikku asked.

"Sorry, he's out to lunch. But maybe I can help you. What's the problem ma'am?"

Suddenly, she put a name to the voice. "Mitch?"

"Who is this?"

She sighed. He was the last person she wanted to talk to about the situation. "It's me, Rikku."

He perked up. "Rikku? Man, you sound so different on the phone."

"As do you."

"So what's up?"

Rikku shook her head, getting ready to hang up. "Nothing that's any of your business."

Mitch smirked. "Ohh, it's about the case isn't it?" He paused, becoming slightly serious again. "Well what's going on? You got a break, didn't you?" 

"Look, it doesn't matter because you can't help me. Only Greg has the capability of finding out the background of him. So it's no use telling you what's going on."

Mitch's eyebrows furrowed and he leaned forward in his seat. "A background check? What do you want a background check for?"

She sighed again. She didn't want to be rude and hang up on him, so she decided to give in and tell him what happened. What harm could it do? "I asked him about his childhood, and suddenly it seemed like he was possessed or something. Like an entirely different person. And he said something about his father. He like… pleaded for his father to stop, and leave him alone."

"Schizo?"

She shook her head. "No, it wasn't like another personality. It was more of a mood swing than anything else."

"Maybe it's just that time of the month," Mitch said with a chuckle.

"See, this is why I don't tell you anything, Mitch. It's all just a big joke to you."

"No, no, I'm sorry. Look, I can try to run a check on him, but if I can't do it alone, I'll see Greg about it. How's that?"

She thought about it for a few seconds. "Sounds good."

"So come down here in a few hours. We should have something by then."

She nodded. "Okay, I will. Bye."

"Bye, Rik."

"Rikku."

__

Tuesday, August 7th, 2003

5:27 pm

Besaid Police Department; Chief Officer Gregory Walter's office

Rikku opened the door to Greg's office, the smell of stale coffee assaulting her senses. She found Mitch sitting at Greg's desk, with Greg standing over by the window, as usual.

"Alright, what'd you find?" she asked, pulling up a chair on the opposite side of Mitch.

Greg turned to look at her. It was almost as if he hadn't even known she'd walked in. "Go ahead Mitch. Show her what we came up with."

Mitch picked up a manila folder from the desk and handed it to Rikku. He looked frustrated about something, much different than when she last talked to him. She gave a glance at both Greg and Mitch before opening it.

Her brow furrowed as she read down the series of pages. "No records of hospitalization as a child, no physician's reports of abuse, no history of alcohol or drug abuse…" She looked over at each of them again. "Nothing?"

Greg shook his head. "That's all we found related to any kind of abuse from his father. There's nothing. As you can see, we checked for drugs and alcohol too, and he's squeaky clean."

She shook her head in disbelief. "Well then what was all that talk about his father?"

Greg shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe he didn't mean to say it. Just slipped."

"No, he meant it alright." She sighed and stood, handing the folder back to Mitch. "I guess I'll just have to go with Plan B."

"What's Plan B?"

"I'm going to have to ask him directly."


	8. Some Strange Facts

**__**

A/N: Omg… I am so sorry this one took so long to get up. I have just been so busy it isn't even funny.

Responses to Reviewers

The Jack of Spades - Yep! I did my research alright! And yes, Yuna will make another appearance. But not yet, I have a way I'm gonna do that, so just stay tuned!

Princess of Mirrors - lmfao, keep guessin'! Your ideas are very interesting, and if I didn't already use them, maybe I will shortly. If you don't mind I mean. And I'm glad you're into it, no problems there!

Thursday, August 9th, 2003

3:25 pm

Zanarkand District Library

Rikku sat in silence in the medical section of the Zanarkand District Library, leafing through one of many books she'd found on mental illnesses and disease. She'd been there since 9am, when the library opened, just to do some extra research before attempting to approach Tidus directly about the subject. She wasn't finding anything useful, though.

She sighed, closing the book entitled 'A State of Mind' and reaching out for the next one.

_It looks like I'll just have to go with the upfront methodology then…_

All of a sudden, a hand stopped her from picking up the book, and she looked up into the face of Mitch Langry.

She sighed again, but it was out of pure frustration and displeasure. "What are you doing here?"

He shrugged and pulled a chair from a nearby table over next to her. "Thought maybe you could use a little help."

"I don't," she growled. "I'm finding exactly what I need, thanks."

He held his hands up in defense. "Fine, geez. Next time I consider helping you out, I'll think twice."

She rubbed her skull with her hands. "Oh my God… fine. Here." She handed him a book. "Look through this one."

He opened it and began reading through it, as she took another book and did the same. After approximately ten minutes of reading in silence, Mitch shut the book, making sure to keep his finger between the pages he had been reading. "Is that all we're gonna do? Sit here and play school?"

She was getting aggravated already. "We're researching."

He rolled his eyes. "Call it what you want. But if you ask me, sitting here reading isn't gonna get the case solved."

"I didn't ask you," she told him, keeping her eyes glued to the page of the book, even though she wasn't reading it anymore. "And I'm not trying to solve a case. I'm trying to figure out why he did this."

"Fine then. Sitting here reading isn't gonna help you figure out why he did it. That better?"

She kept her face emotionless, but eventually broke down and smiled a little. "You are unbelievable. Why are you so desperate to help me?"

He averted his gaze. "No reason. Just call it enthusiasm for my job."

She nodded. "Alright then, doesn't make any difference to me." She paused, then closed her book as well. "So what should we do then?"

"Well, the whole background thing is out, there's nothing."

Suddenly, Rikku got an idea. "How about a background check on someone else?"

Mitch's brow furrowed between his eyes. "Who else is there?"

"His dad," she said. "His name is… Jecht."

He shrugged as they headed for the library doors. "Sure, we could give it a shot. Dig up some dirt on the old man."

She giggled quietly. "Right."

__

Thursday, August 9th, 2003

4:32 pm

Private Investigator's office; Besaid

Rikku and Mitch entered the private investigator's office. If it had been located any further south, it would've crossed over into Bevelle.

"How can I help you?" the woman at the front desk asked. She had long black hair that was tied up into a Japanese style bun. She wore a long black dress that matched the color of her raven hair. Her name plate read 'Lulu.'

"We'd like to speak to the PI, please," Rikku said.

"Do you have an appointment?" Lulu asked.

Rikku gave a worried glance towards Mitch, but he didn't appear fazed. "I was here the other day. This is regarding Tidus's case."

Lulu's expression changed. She motioned over to the hallway to the left of the front lobby. "Down that hall. Second door on your right."

Mitch nodded. "Thank you very much ma'am."

Rikku followed Mitch in the direction Lulu had told them. "That's right," she whispered. "I forgot you were here before."

She noticed the stern look on his face, which was very different from the giddy expression he'd worn just a few moments ago. He said nothing as they knocked on the door and entered.

"You back again, Mitch?" the man at the desk inside the room asked. He had a heavy Jamaican accent, which Rikku found extremely odd for a private investigator.

Mitch nodded. "Unfortunately, Wakka."

_Wakka? Weird name…_

"What can I do for you?" Wakka asked, motioning for them to sit down, then doing the same himself.

"I need a background check on Tidus's father. Name's Jecht," Mitch told him.

Rikku couldn't get over how quickly Mitch had made the transition from being ridiculously annoying to taking control of a serious situation with ease.

"Alrighty…" Wakka turned his chair to the computer and typed furiously for what seemed like forever. "Here it is. I'll make a printout for you to take it back with ya."

The printer whirred and three pages came sliding out. Wakka took them and handed them over to Mitch. It was still warm when he took it.

Rikku immediately snatched it out of his hand and looked it over, her eyes shifting back and forth as she read along the page.

"That's weird… It says here that Jecht disappeared over eight years ago. No one knows what happened to him. Police investigated for a year and a half before giving up and presuming him dead."

Mitch raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

She nodded, keeping her eyes locked on the paper.

"There were withdrawals of large sums of money over a period of 3 years. Hundreds of dollars. One of the withdrawals was close to $900."

"What was it for?"

Rikku searched the page. "…It doesn't say."

"That's definitely strange," Mitch commented.

"Tell me about it."

Rikku continued to read along the three pages. Jecht had been a star football player on the Zanarkand Abes for most of his life. He was married to a woman named Marissa, had only one son, which was Tidus, and seemed to live the perfect life. He had a clean slate as well. The only thing that was odd, and the only thing that bothered both Rikku and Mitch alike, was the fact that there were records of large amounts of money being taken out of the bank, but no record of it being spent.

There was something very strange going on. And somehow, Tidus's father was involved.

****


	9. Skinned Alive

**__**

A/N: Hey all! Sorry that last chapter was so short. It looked a lot longer on Word, lemme tell ya. But at least it got posted, and it had a very important part of the plot in it. But why am I rambling like this? No one complained… Anyway! I guess I'll be moving on then, hehe.

A/N 2: Oh! One more thing, and this is pretty important. This chapter will delve into the more psychotic side of Tidus. I know Rikku's been talking to him and nothing about the murders has been said, but in this chapter, I promise a very deep, horrible discussion between them, for all you horror/gore lovers such as myself. ; ) Let me know what you think of how I put the mind of a killer on paper, er… screen, lol. 

~*Responses to Reviewers*~

Baby Rose - I really don't know why the Author Alerts weren't working. Like I said, my Review Alert wasn't working up until 2 or 3 days ago either. Oh well, everything seems to be okay now. = D

Neko Kuroban - I don't wanna give too much away, but to clear it up for you, it was Jecht who was withdrawing the money. And I'll also tell you you're on the right track, hehe.

The Jack of Spades - I actually forgot about the other characters up until now. Yeah, I'll squeeze an Auron appearance in here somewhere. And don't worry, no Lulu/Wakka romance. You probably won't be seeing much more of either of them, anyway. Auron I'll try to make a little more of a static character, although I can't promise anything for the sake of the plot.

Cryptic Dragon - I'm sure psycho Tidus would love you too. ; )

Saturday, August 11th, 2003

8:14 pm

Luca Apartment Complex; apartment 3A

Rikku sat on her pleather couch in the living room area of her apartment, looking over the printout of Jehct's background information for the hundredth time since she'd gotten her own copy and brought it home. She was rattling her brain to no end to try and figure out the reasoning behind the withdrawals. There was nothing.

She sighed and folded up the papers, following the same crease lines she'd folded along many times before, and proceeded to place them in the desk drawer on the opposite side of the room.

As she slid the oak drawer shut, a knock came from her door.

She glanced at the clock. It was nearing 8:30. Who could possibly be paying her a visit now? _Mitch… _She shook her head as she headed for the door. Figures he'd be the one bothering her at such an hour. 

"You know what, Mitch," she began as she grasped the door handle, "one of these days I'm just going to - " She stopped mid-sentence as she pulled the door open. Standing before her was not Mitch. In fact, it wasn't anybody she'd ever seen before. Her body grew tense. The tall, well-built man looked slightly dangerous. 

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice squeaking.

The man adjusted his sunglasses with a bear claw sized hand. "I am Auron."

Rikku raised a thin eyebrow. _Talk about cryptic… _"Okay… That does me no good."

Auron sighed, sounding slightly agitated. "I'm a friend of Greg's. I assume you know him." It wasn't a question, but a statement.

Rikku's brow furrowed deeper. "I do." She paused and stepped aside. "Want to come in?"

He merely grunted as he stepped inside her apartment and sat down. Rikku followed and sat across from him. "So what do you want?"

Auron reached into his red coat pocket and pulled out three pieces of paper Rikku recognized immediately. It was another copy of Jecht's background information. It was flying around like a chain letter. "I'm here to talk to you about this."

Rikku shrugged. "I don't know anymore than you do, Auron."

Auron took off his sunglasses finally, and gave her a look of disbelief. "Tidus hasn't said anything about money?"

Rikku shook her head, anger washing over her features. "No, and why would he? He wasn't the one who took it!"

Auron remained passive, keeping his voice cool and calm. "How do you know that?" Rikku was silent. "He could've easily used his father's information and account to draw the money himself, could he not?"

"I don't think he'd do that," Rikku said quietly, after some hesitation. 

"Oh?" Auron asked, leaning forward a little. "And how do you know that?"

Rikku rummaged around inside her brain, but thought of nothing. "I… I don't. I just… It's how I feel."

Auron stood, getting ready to leave. Obviously, his talk about Jecht didn't consist of much. "Well maybe it would be in your best interest if you kept your feelings out of this, Rikku."

Auron headed to the door, proceeding to let himself out. Rikku chased after him, holding the door shut, although he couldn't have been really trying to open it if she could hold it closed against him. "Is that a threat?"

Auron thrust the door open, nearly snapping Rikku's arm in two and gave a grunt as he stepped out. "It is merely advice."

As he exited and walked down the hall towards the steps, Rikku called out the apartment, "Yeah? Well who says I need _your _advice anyway?!"

_Sunday, August 12th, 2003_

8:19am

Besaid Criminal Asylum

Rikku rushed down the hall, the other people in the building mere blurs. She hardly slept at all the previous night, what with the strange visit from Mr. Miserable himself. That, and the fact that she was itching to find out if Tidus really _did _know anything about the large withdrawals of money. 

She walked through the familiar doors, down the familiar hall, past the familiar cells, to the familiar blonde haired, blue eyed young man, not much older than she was. 

He seemed startled by her sudden presence. It wasn't his day with her… Nonetheless, he planted on that same smile he always did. "Morning!" he said, almost as if he were greeting his wife who was just getting home from work, rather than his psychologist coming to talk to him at an asylum. 

Rikku was used to it by now. "Morning Tidus, how are you?"

He shrugged his broad shoulders. "I can only be one way. What's the sense in asking?"

She nodded, although she didn't understand what he meant exactly. 

"So…" he continued, innocently enough. "What are you doing here?"

She hesitated, holding the folder containing Jecht's background information in it tight on her lap. "I need to ask you something."

Tidus's brow furrowed curiously. "Oh? That's a real surprise. The psychologist asking the insane murderer a question. How astonishing!" He chuckled.

Rikku ignored the comment. She'd grown immune to his mindless ramblings as well. She went on. "Well, I have a few things to ask you, really."

His expression changed with a flash. He moved closer to the bars and sat cross-legged on the floor, looking up into her seafoam eyes with his azure orbs. He looked like a schoolboy awaiting to be read a fairy tale at story time. He looked almost childlike.

The subject she was about to bring up, however, was not.

"You haven't told me a lot about the killings themselves."

Tidus's eyes flickered. "I know I haven't."

Rikku fidgeted. She was far beyond being scared by him anymore, but now, she felt slightly uncomfortable. "Why?"

He shrugged again. "You didn't ask."

"Well I am now."

Their statements became simpler and faster, until Tidus prepared himself to give Rikku a gruesome description of one of his murders.

He began to chuckle again as memories of one of his favorites washed into his mind. 

"I'll tell you about the fifth murder. But I don't like to number them. It sounds too mundane. I always called it Submission."

Rikku's brow furrowed. "Submission?" Rikku remember 'Submission' as the young man who was skinned and found in his basement. She braced herself.

He ignored the echo and went on, seeming eager now to tell his account. 

"I picked him when I was shopping for Yuna's anniversary present."

_Picked him…? I wish he would tell me how he picks them._

"He was nice to his son and his wife, I suppose she was. Good man. Good, strong man. Friendly. Handsome. Probably rich, he was carrying at least three bags in either hand. Almost hurt me to know he was one I'd have to get rid of. Almost.

"But it's not up to me to decide."

"Can I ask you something?"

Tidus sighed, not happy about being interrupted. "What?"

"Do you… answer to a higher power when you 'pick' these people?" she asked timidly.

He scoffed and shook his head. "I'd hardly call it a higher power."

Before she could say anything else, he was back to the murder.

"I can remember the look in his eyes," he said dreamily. "That look of pure terror; the look someone gets when they see a car about to run them over, or a trigger being pulled, with the barrel of the gun facing in their direction. There's no way to duplicate it. It's its own identity. It's what you look for, you know?"

She could hardly know what he meant, nor could she agree with it, but she nodded and let him go on.

"'I have a wife and two kids!' he shouted. 'So?' I asked him. It wasn't like I cared. _I _wasn't the one with the wife and kids. _I _wasn't the one who was going to be leaving them behind.

"And the sound… That wonderful sound of metal ripping flesh. There's nothing like it. Not even the screams can compare to the KRRIICKK!!"

She cringed at the loud noise he made. She wasn't sure if she wanted to hear much more.

"After the first layer of skin is taken off, it's baby pink. Then, as you take more and make the cut deeper, the skin gets more of a rose color to it, until there's so much blood that all you see is red."

Rikku's felt lightheaded and dizzy. "Please… that's enough." She wasn't much for gore to begin with, and the way he said it just gave her the chills. 

Tidus smirked. "Fine then. But you asked for it."

She shivered, glad that he'd stopped. Feeling the paper on her lap, she remembered the other thing she wanted to ask him about. "Here," she said, thrusting the folder between the heavy bars into his face. He blinked a few times before taking it.

She held her breath as he read over it for what felt like years. She saw him finish up the last page, but he was still silent. "Tidus…?"

"Where did you find this?" he asked, his voice a low, guttural growl. 

"It's in the computers Tidus. Did you know anything about it?"

He dropped the papers to the floor. He reached out and held Rikku's throat tightly. "You have no business! Do you hear me?!"

She clawed at his hands, trying to pry them off her neck. "Tidus… Let… go…!!"

His whole body was trembling and hot tears began welling up in his eyes. He let go and turned towards the back of the cell. He leaned against the wall and slid down into a sitting position, burying his face in his hands.

At that moment, Rikku took it upon herself to leave.

**__**


	10. Tick Tock

**__**

A/N: Yeah, this one took a little longer to write too, but what can I say? This is a difficult fic to write! lol I'm glad all of you (well, most of you, lol) enjoyed the gore in the last chapter. ^_~ Not much else to say, except enjoy and please review!

~*Responses to Reviewers*~

Songstress Lenne - Hey cuz! lol Glad to hear this is still addicting. And I'm glad to see that it's your favorite fic! Thanks a lot! Makes me feel special. ^-^ And you're on the right track… this does have to do with major family issues. But I won't say anymore than that!

Baby Rose - Wow… you thought a line I wrote was brilliant? First time that's ever happened. Lol Oh well, thanks girly!

kingster0517 - It's funny you should mention that you think there's something between Tidus and Rikku…

Princess of Mirrors - That review meant a lot to me, because you compare my fic to real life, and how close it is. And that's what I'm going for. So when you say that, it makes me feel like I'm doing a good job. Thanks bunches!

__

Wednesday, August 15th, 2003

7:12 pm

Luca Apartment Complex; apartment 3A

It had been three days. Three days since Rikku had last been to the asylum. Three days since she last talked to Tidus. Three days since she'd been attacked by Tidus… She tried to block out the incident, tried to put it behind her so she could go talk to him again, but she couldn't. She was starting to think she never would see him again. And right now, that would be just fine with her.

She set down her cup of coffee, feeling a twinge in her neck. She stood up, rubbing it, and proceeded to the bathroom. Flicking on the light, she turned towards the mirror. She sighed at what she saw. Two large bruises were on either side of her throat, made by the grip of Tidus's hands. They were still a dark purple color, no change since the day it had happened.

She put a finger to one of the spots and winced. It still hurt like hell, too. She exited the bathroom to get some ice, when there was a knock on her door.

She sighed out of frustration and spun on her heels. She opened the door a crack, only to see Mitch staring back at her.

"I really don't want to talk to you right now," she spat and attempted to close the door.

He put his hand against it. "Rikku, come on. Where've you been? We haven't seen hide nor tail of you for a while. I just… I have something to tell you, okay?"

She nodded. "Sure, you have something to tell me. More like you wanted to come here and put your nose where it doesn't belong."

He sighed. "You really think that's what this is all about?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do."

"Fine. But this is really important, straight from the people at the asylum…" he said mysteriously.

Rikku's brow furrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"Can I come in?"

She hesitated a moment, then opened the door the rest of the way, motioning for him to enter her apartment. They went over and sat on the couch. "So, what do you have to tell me?"

Mitch sighed. "Well, I don't think you're gonna like this, but…"

Rikku tilted her head forward. "But…?"

"Since there's really no leads, and no mental excuse for him to have done what he did, they're going to execute him."

Rikku's seafoam eyes widened. "What?!"

"Look, calm down. But you haven't been there, and you haven't found any evidence that says he killed those people because he has an illness. This is their only option."

"It is _not_! What about the stuff he said about his dad?! Isn't that evidence?!" Rikku was outraged. She couldn't believe they'd just kill him like that, when she knew she had been so close to finding out the truth.

Mitch shook his head. "Not good enough. I tried talking to Greg about it. There's nothing he can do."

Rikku covered her face with her hands. "This can't be happening…" she said, her voice muffled. Tears were falling down her face. She was so close to finding out what happened to Tidus, what made him do all those horrible things. Now, she'd never be able to. This was her first case, and she couldn't even find out what happened.

She sniffled and wiped her eyes as she stood. 

"Where are you going?" Mitch asked as she crossed the room, heading for the door.

"I'm going to talk to him," she said soullessly. "There has to be something I can do. I'm not just going to let him die."

Mitch crossed his arms and clicked his tongue. Rikku turned back around. "What's that for?"

Mitch smirked. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were in love with that crazy bastard."

Rikku jaw dropped. She stomped over to him and poked him in the chest. "Listen Mitch…" Her voice was low and menacing. "What I do and how I feel when it comes to this case if none of your business, so keep your friggin' comments to yourself, alright?"

Mitch's giddiness left him. "Listen, maybe you should just forget about it. He's a murderer, Rikku. What do you want to save him for? He should be put down like those innocent people he killed so heartlessly!"

"He needs help," she replied coolly. "That's why I want to save him."

__

Wednesday, August 15th, 2003

8:09 pm

Besaid Criminal Asylum; cell block 8-C

"Tidus!" she called as she jogged down the line of cells. "Tidus!"

She stopped short in front of the familiar cell, seeing he was sitting on the floor with his back against the wall facing out. He didn't respond.

"Tidus, this is no time to play games. I've had enough with them. This is important!"

He lolled his head to the side. His usually clear, bright eyes were dull and cloudy. His shoulders slumped. He was lethargic. And he still hadn't responded.

She took a step closer to the cell, her face covered with worry. "Tidus…?"

"Who are you?" he finally asked. His eyes squinted in the overhead lights, which were quite dim in her opinion.

"Tidus, it's me. Rikku."

He tried to get up, but his legs kept buckling out from under him. He decided to remain on the floor. He shook his head, mumbling things she couldn't understand.

What was wrong with him? He looked awful, sick even. And he couldn't remember who she was. Something definitely wasn't right.

"Tidus, I need to ask you a few questions. Can you do that?"

He stared up at the ceiling, still talking to himself in riddles. "Can I, can I? Can't, I can." Now that she heard it better, his voice sounded raspy and strained.

Even so, she decided to ask him what she needed to ask him. Maybe he'd still be able to answer them. "Tidus, what happened with your father?"

He convulsed once, then shook his head. "I… I don't… My father… He… He died. 29 years ago…"

Rikku shook her head. "That isn't possible, Tidus. You're only 19." She sighed. She wasn't going to be getting any information out of him like this. What in the world happened to him to make him act the way he was? Then, it hit her. 

"Tidus, did they give you any shots lately?" she asked, afraid to know the answer.

"I don't know… I mean, I don't remember."

She bolted back down the hall and out of the room. They couldn't have possibly given him phenol barbital… could they? 

**__**


	11. Deadly Advances

**__**

A/N: I know, I know, long wait on this one… Sorry about that. I've been way busy, and this hasn't been one of those top priorities. But now, on the last day of Thanksgiving vacation, I'm going to sit down and write this. Oh yeah, and phenol barbital is the drug they give prisoners to kill them. Thought more people would know that… *scratches head* Oh well, anyway, please review!

Wednesday, August 15th, 2003

8:09 pm

Besaid Criminal Asylum

Rikku's heart pounded in her chest as she raced to the front desk. From what Mitch had told her, she still had time. Why was Tidus acting as though he was at death's door? 

She grabbed onto the edge of the desk, her breath heavy and rapid. "What did you do to him?!" she exclaimed.

The woman at the desk was taken aback. "Miss, calm down," she said, sounding slightly tense. "Who is 'him'?"

Rikku tried to calm herself, and spoke more rationally this time. "Tidus, in 8-C. What's wrong with him?"

The woman furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"

Rikku pounded a fist on the desktop. "Did you give him the shot or what?!"

The woman shook her head. "My God, no. No one's been in there since… well, since you spoke with him last."

Rikku took her turn to look surprised. "Then why is he…?" Her voice trailed off as her thoughts took over her mind. 

_Then why is he acting that way? I could've sworn those were the effects of phenol barbital… And if it isn't that, what in the world is wrong with him?_

"Miss? Are you alright?" 

Rikku snapped out of her daze and nodded. "Yeah… Yeah, I'm okay."

She headed for the exit, her face still reflecting confusion. Maybe Mitch was right. Maybe Tidus was just a crazy bastard who liked to kill for the sheer pleasure of it.

Making a face at her own thoughts, she said to herself, "Yeah, and maybe monkeys will fly out of my ass."

There had to be something deeper than just a typical mindless murderer she was dealing with. The withdrawals of money from Jecht's account bothered her to no end. And she also wanted to know why Tidus flipped out whenever his father was brought into the conversation. There were so many questions, and not a lot of time to find their answers. She was getting so frustrated, and no one seemed to want to help her. Everyone already had their mind's made up about Tidus and didn't want to hear anymore about it. Was she the only one who really cared about it anymore?

As she left the building, she saw a familiar figure walking in the opposite direction. Figuring she could use all the help she could get, she waved her arm and called his name. "Auron! Hey, Auron!"

The tall man turned to face her, giving her time to catch up with him. "What do you want?" he asked.

"I… I need your help," she told him, feeling slightly embarrassed.

He almost smiled. "Last I heard, you didn't need my help." Then he added, "Or my advice."

"Well I do now," she replied quickly. "They're going to kill Tidus because I apparently didn't find any information that proves he isn't really, well… sane."

Auron shook his head and began walking again. "Anyone who can kill is far from sane."

Rikku quickened her pace to walk with him. "You know what I mean. I didn't show them any evidence that proves he has a mental illness and he didn't really mean to kill all those people. I don't know what to do…"

"Don't do anything."

Rikku's brow furrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Auron sighed. "Stop getting so wrapped up in this, Rikku. It isn't good for you. How can you be a criminal psychologist when you feel pity for every one of your clients?"

Rikku's face practically turned red from fury. "What is it with all of you telling me that?! I'm not going to just give up on someone, _anyone_, because I'm outnumbered! I know there's more to this entire situation than meets the eye, and I'm going to find out what it is whether you all help me or not!"

Auron didn't raise his voice at all. "I don't think you understand, Rikku. Being a criminal psychologist is a lot like being a doctor or caretaker. You know what's going to happen eventually, but your feelings blind that. And when you get your feelings involved and you lose that patient or person or client, it hits you hard. It affects you, and then you might not be able to do your job anymore."

Rikku tumbled his words around in her head, thinking them through. "I do understand what you're saying, but how can I just ignore the fact that his father did something to him? That something that happened to him when he was little caused him to grow up wrong and do all this?"

Auron shook his head. "That's not your job. Your job is to see if a mental illness caused what he did, to see if he's sane or not. Your job isn't to prove whether he's guilty or innocent. I think you're forgetting that."

"I'm not," Rikku told him firmly. "I know he did it - "

"And that's what matters. You're coming up with this 'evidence' on your own. He isn't telling you his father did anything. You are."

Rikku was silent now, unable to think of anything to say back.

As Auron turned up onto the walkway of his home, he called back to her, "Think about what I said, Rikku. Don't shut me out just because you don't like what you're hearing."

__

Friday, August 17th, 2003

9:24 pm

Luca Apartment Complex; apartment 3A

Two days had passed since Rikku's conversation with Auron. She really had been thinking over what he said, but she didn't believe it. There was nothing wrong with how she was going about the case. She just knew it; she felt it.

Wracking her brains to try and think of a way to get one of two things was driving her crazy. She either wanted more time to talk to Tidus, or to find rock solid evidence that Jecht did something to make Tidus the way he was. And as of now, she wasn't having any luck accomplishing either.

She knew if she could find out what the money that had been taken out of Jecht's account had been used for, she'd find something. But there were no records of it being spent. And to say it was placed in another account of the family's, that was impossible. There was no other members of the family on record, which was another oddity in itself. And if the money had been spent, there would be record of it. So where was the money?

Just as she was pondering these thoughts, a knock came to her door. As she opened it, she saw Mitch standing there.

"What do you want?" she asked coolly.

"I came to talk to you," was all he said.

"Well what if I said I didn't want you to talk to me?"

"Rikku…"

She sighed and opened the door, knowing she'd regret it. "Fine, come in."

They went and sat down on the couch in a similar manner they had before. "So… what do you want?" Rikku asked persistently.

"I'm… I'm worried about you, Rikku."

She raised an eyebrow. "You're worried about me?" she echoed.

He nodded. "I am. You've been spending all your time and energy on this case, and I think you might be, well… addicted."

"Addicted? To what?" she asked with a laugh.

"To Tidus."

She froze. "How can you say such a thing? I'm trying to save his life, Mitch!"

He got up and stood in front of her. "But he's a murderer, Rikku. Why try and save him?"

Rikku shook her head in disbelief. "Because it's not his fault!"

Mitch let out a laugh. "Not his fault… What, did the boogeyman come and make him do it?" He laughed harder now.

"I want you to leave, and I do _not _want you coming back," she growled.

He leaned forward, his hands on her shoulders. There was a strange glint in his eyes that she never saw before, and it scared her. "Rikku, please. It isn't good for a girl like you to be wasting your time like this."

She didn't like him touching her. She tried to push him away, but he was too strong and remained where he stood.

He moved his right hand to her leg and began rubbing it, lifting himself up onto the couch so he was sitting on her, his legs on either side of her body. "Come on Rikku, just loosen up for once…" he murmured in her ear.

Using all the strength she had, and knowing what would happen if she didn't, she shoved him down onto the floor. Tears welling up in her eyes, she pointed to the door. "Get the fuck out of here." When he didn't move, she screamed, "_Now_!"

"There's really something wrong with you," he told her, his gaze gripping her. He stomped out of the apartment and slammed the door behind him.

Wiping away the tears from her eyes, she sighed. She felt dirty, and headed to the bathroom to take a shower.

As she watched the water run down the drain, a thought struck her. Auron and Mitch both had the same strong opinion about her feelings playing a part in the case. And that's when she knew they had to be involved somehow. They were in on something together, and now she had another question to add to the ever-growing list. But this one, she was going to answer. She was going to find out what they were up to if it killed her.

__


	12. The Final Report

**__**

A/N: Eep… Wow, it's been a while. But to those of you who have been waiting for this, I'm really sorry. Life's been hectic, and I've also been working on other projects and this kinda go lost along the way. But hopefully this update will trigger more of them, and ALU can finally get wrapped up. So please review to let me know ya'll are still interested, okay? Enjoy!

Sunday, August 19th, 2003

1:43 pm

Besaid Police Department; Chief Officer Gregory Walter's office

Rikku stormed into Greg's office. She was going to find out just what the hell was going on, especially with Mitch and Auron, as well as why Tidus had been acting even stranger than usual lately. She figured Greg, of all people, would have to know something. Instead, she found Auron seated behind Greg's desk, typing away on the computer furiously.

"What are you doing here?" Rikku demanded. "And where's Greg? I have to talk to him about something really important." And that was all he needed to know. He didn't have to know it was him she wanted to discuss with Greg.

Auron motioned to the door. "Greg stepped out for a moment," came the gruff, emotionless response.

"Where did he go?"

Auron shrugged. "Don't know."

She stood there in silence, listening to the clicking of the keys, until she went over and looked at the monitor. "What are you doing?"

Auron seemed hesitant. "Typing up a report."

"On Greg's computer?"

"There's something wrong with mine. A virus or something. I managed to save it on there, but then the virus started and I couldn't access it. So now I have to do it again, and I asked Greg if I could use his."

"I see… Did you take it down to the Tech Shop? They could probably fix it."

"I just got back from there a little while ago."

She nodded. It wouldn't have sounded suspicious to her, had he not have been so hesitant when he answered her the first time. She was quiet again, until she finally built up the courage to ask, "What's the report about?"

He let out a faint grumble and closed out the program he'd been typing on. "It's no concern of yours," he told her, taking the floppy disk out of the drive and standing up. "Just a report about something I needed to turn in soon. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get going. I'm on a time limit with this."

She knew there was something going on, just like she had so many times before, but simply said, "All right, see you later."

Sunday, August 19th, 2003

4:08 pm

Besaid Technology Shop

Rikku stepped into the store and was greeted by the sound of people talking and machines whirring. She walked up to the front desk, where a man with short black hair and a 5 'o clock shadow was standing.

"Hello Miss, can I help you with something?" he asked politely.

"Yeah, I want to pick up a computer that was dropped off here earlier," Rikku told him.

"Of course. What was the name?"

"Auron."

The man looked over the sheet in front of him. "Oh yes, it had a virus that needed to be gotten rid of. I'll get that for you, one second please."

As he walked into the back room, Rikku had a party inside her head. Things were going smoothly. If she could get Auron's computer home now that it was fixed, she could see the report he'd been so secretive about. She just knew it had something to do with Tidus. What other reason could there be?

Stopping her thought process as the man returned, she took the laptop from him and smiled. "Thank you very much."

"You're welcome. Have a nice day."

"You too."

Score.

Sunday, August 19th, 2003

6:47 pm

Luca Apartment Complex; apartment 3A

Rikku had set up a station in her kitchen, ready to investigate the report. She had her mug of coffee to the right of her, the computer in front of her, and a pencil and paper to the left. She was going to write down everything she found out. She thought of doing it directly on the computer, but saving or printing would leave a trace that someone else had been on Auron's computer, and she didn't want that.

She turned it on and watched as the monitor flickered on and the desktop appeared. "Okay… documents, reports, anything…"

There I go, talking to myself again…

She shook her head at her own actions and opened the 'Documents' folder. There were a few files that weren't of any interest, and probably had to do with previous cases Auron had worked on.

It was funny. He wasn't a police officer or detective, but because he was a friend of Greg's he got his nose into every business the department was involved in.

Just when she was about to give up hope that the report was even on the computer, one last file remained, entitled 'drugs.'

"Drugs…?" Rikku couldn't recall any drug related events that had happened lately. She clicked on it, and a Word document opened up that looked very familiar. It was the same one Auron had been working on in Greg's office. The very one she had been looking for.

Her jade eyes scanned through the report. "Final report… Tidus… drugs in the bloodstream…?" What could it mean? Mitch and Greg had run a background check on Tidus a while back, and he came up clean. Why all of a sudden were there drugs in his system? It made no sense at all. He was stuck in that cell. There was no way he'd have access to drugs of any sort, aside from the ones he was being given for medical reasons, and they were a given. And the part about it being the final report disturbed her too.

That was all there was to the report, though, and just as she was turning off the computer, there was a knock on her door.

Afraid it might be Mitch again, she called, "Who is it?"

There was silence, then a gruff voice said, "Auron."

Shit!

Quickly shutting the computer down, she slid it underneath the bed and cleaned up a little. Then she went over to the door and opened it.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, trying not to appear suspicious.

Auron stared down at her. "I came for my computer."

Her brow furrowed as she feigned confusion, but inside, her heart was pounding and obscenities coursed through her head. "Why in the world would I have your computer?"

He didn't hesitate this time. "I went down to the Shop to pick it up, and they said someone had already come for it. Some perky little blonde girl. Who else could they possibly been talking about?"

She could've kicked herself. After all the precautions she'd taken, it all got screwed over because of her looks. Why couldn't Auron have known more perky little blonde girls? Not that she could picture it anyway, but still.

"I only did it to save you the trouble of going to get it," she lied.

"Bullshit, you did. Now where is it? You shouldn't be messing around with things that don't belong to you, Rikku!"

She took a few steps back, which turned out to be a mistake since he followed her inside. "What was that report on Tidus all about?" she demanded. "He was clean the first time we screened him, and now all of a sudden he's an addict? There's no way, Auron!"

He chuckled quietly. "Still letting our feelings get in the way of our job?"

"This has nothing to do with my feelings! I _have _no feelings for him! But I'll be damned if I'm going to let them just kill him all because of someone else's doing! Now you tell me what the hell's going on, because if I find out myself, there's going to be more trouble than you could ever imagine. I'll see to it you never help Greg with another case again… if that's what you've even been doing."

"I have," he insisted quickly.

"Then what's going on?" she asked again. "Why does your report say Tidus has been using drugs?"

Auron sighed, defeated. "He hasn't." After a pause, he added, "Well, he has, but not by his own doing."

Rikku looked puzzled. "What does that mean?"

"Listen Rikku, I have been helping Greg out on cases before. And it started out that way on this one too, until Mitch came along."

"Mitch…"

"He likes you, that's no secret. But because of the case, he feels like you're ignoring him, and he didn't take too kindly to that. So… in order to end this case quickly, he hired me to switch the medication they were giving Tidus at the asylum with harder, illegal drugs. That way, they'd shown up on a blood test, and they would be considered the reasoning for what he did. He'd get locked up, executed maybe, and you'd be free."

She shook her head in disbelief. "And you did it?!"

"Well, yes. You know I'm no officer or detective, so I don't get paid for just helping Greg. The money sounded good, so I took Mitch up on the offer."

"But he could die, Auron! And he doesn't deserve to! If I could just figure out why he really did kill those people, I know it would change everything. But… people like you and Mitch are making that really hard for me."

Auron sighed again. "There's nothing you can do about it now. He's already been tested, and in a few days. He'll probably end up going to a real jail. Then… they'll probably just kill him."

A thought struck her. "But a few days ago, Mitch told me since there were no leads, they were already planning to execute him."

Auron shook his head. "That's not true. He probably made that phony story up to try and lure you away from Tidus himself. He told me he didn't think I was doing a good job. That explains it then."

Rikku looked like she was about to cry. "Well what should I do then? If I only have a few days, and I have no idea how to go about getting anymore information… I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place."

Auron thought a moment. "What about his girlfriend, Yuna?"

Rikku shrugged. "I could try. I haven't talked to her yet, so hopefully she'll have something of importance to tell me. If not…" She couldn't finish her sentence.

Auron could. "Tidus will die."


	13. Heart To Heart

**__**

A/N: Hmm… not much to say this time around, except thanks you to all the reviewers for Chapter 12! I was so glad to find out this fic hasn't been forgotten because of the long break I took with it… But I was pleasantly surprised, and to show my gratitude, I got onto the next chapter real quick. I realized Tidus hasn't been showing up very often lately, so this chapter will include him again. I wanna get a little deeper into his relationship with Rikku, which a lot of you have been questioning and commenting about, so enjoy!

Monday, August 20th, 2003

10:45 am

Luca Apartment Complex; apartment 3A

Rikku sat up most of the night, thinking over everything Auron had told her. She didn't know exactly how much time she had to get to the bottom of all of it. All she knew was that it was a few days. And that was so vague. What was worse, though, was that she had no clue how she was going to get anymore information. Sure, there was Yuna, but what if she came up dry too? Yuna had made her statement way back when Tidus was first brought in, and she didn't have anything relevant to say.

She sighed and glanced at the clock. It was almost eleven. The last time she'd looked at the clock, it read seven-thirty. Where time was going anymore was beyond her. But she knew just sitting around thinking wasn't going to get her anymore specifics. She needed to get out and do something. Talk to Yuna? Not yet. First, she wanted to go back and see Tidus, which she hadn't done in quite some time.

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Monday, August 20th, 2003

11:36 am

Besaid Criminal Asylum; cell block 8-C

She hadn't been there in a while, and had almost forgotten what it felt like to be in the cell block where Tidus resided. Almost, anyway.

She passed all the familiar cells. Nothing had changed much, except the one cell that used to house another serial killer was now empty. He'd probably been executed. She was determined not to let that happen to Tidus, no matter what it took.

Reaching the cell he was in, she stopped in front of it and turned towards it. She saw the familiar form, but this time, it was slumped in the corner of the cell. He looked defeated, pathetic. She could only wonder if he knew what was really going on.

"Tidus?"

He looked up now, his motions slow and lethargic. His eyes were dulled, and his face had even changed somewhat. He almost looked like a different person staring back at her. "You came back," came the emotionless response.

"Of course I came back," she told him quickly, taking a step closer.

He chuckled dryly, making some sort of attempt to stand, but failed miserably. "I was starting to think the next time I saw you would be at my execution… if you'd even show up to that."

She shook her head. "I'm so sorry I haven't been here. There's just been so much to do… Coming here and talking to you isn't the only thing I have to do to solve this case."

He waved her apology off. "I didn't mean it that way. But you were supposed to be here helping me, letting me know what's been going on. I don't even know where I stand anymore."

She sighed and placed a hand around one of the bars. "Well… to be honest, you don't stand very well."

He made a face, but it was a face as if he was expecting the news. "What's happening?"

"I don't know if you knew, but you've been given… Someone's been slipping you drugs to make you look bad." She left the details of who it was conveniently out. "And even though the person who was behind it is confessing, there's still only a few days left for me to figure you out before they ship you off to a real jail, and then execute you."

He took all of this in for a few moments, then asked quietly, "Why don't you just quit? Save yourself all this trouble and just let them kill me. I deserve it, don't I?"

She shook her head. "I'm not going to let them kill you, Tidus! Not after all this time! Not after everything we've accomplished!"

His eyes burned into hers. "Why?! I'm a murderer, Rikku! Murderers are supposed to die! Didn't they teach you that at that goddamn college you go to?! Huh?!"

She was speechless for a few moments. Then, finding her voice, she said, "You are a murderer, Tidus, yes. But I know it wasn't just because you like seeing people suffer. It wasn't just because you're heartless. Look at you. You're not any older than I am. Something happened to you to make you do all those things. All you have to do is tell me, and all of this will be over."

He shook his head. "It'll never be over. Sure, I can tell you. I can sit here and pour my heart out to you like I'm on some daytime talk show. Maybe I won't be executed that way, but it won't change the fact that I murdered all those people, will it?"

She was silent.

"Well?!"

"No, it won't."

"Exactly," he surmised. "No matter what I do, I can't change the past." He paused. "I don't want to even think about the past. I just wanna forget it."

"Because of the murders?" she asked tentatively. "Or is it because of something else?"

"It's none of your business."

"So there is something."

He let out a growl. "What difference does it make? That's all I want to know. Who cares why I killed all those people? Who cares if I had reason or not? No one's going to let me off the hook just because you uncover the secrets of my troubled past. Do you really think you're going to make a difference?"

She was quiet, then said, "I'd like to think so. If I don't try my hardest to save you, I'll have to live with that. I'll have to live with the fact that I could've prevented a death, but I slacked off just because you thought you didn't need me."

"…I never said I didn't need you."

"Well then what did you mean, Tidus? Talking in riddles isn't helping me."

He sighed, finally standing up and moving towards her, his face just a few inches away from her own. "I'm a burden, Rikku," he said softly. "I have problems, okay? Big problems. Someone like you shouldn't have to deal with someone like me."

"Would you stop saying stuff like that? I chose to do this. It's not a burden. It's a job. I wasn't forced to do this. I think you're forgetting that."

He stared into her eyes for a long time in silence. "Do what you want, then."

"I can't," she replied. "Not unless you help me."

He smiled a little. "We've gotta help each other?"

She nodded, a smile still not forming on her face. "That's how it's gonna work. And we don't have a lot of time, so you have to cooperate."

"Yes, ma'am," he replied, sarcasm in his voice.

Rikku spent a long time talking with Tidus. A lot of it had to do with his childhood. She found out he'd had quite a few friends, was involved in blitz ball quite a bit, and led basically a happy life… up until his mother was found dead, and his father disappeared. After that, he'd been shipped around to different foster homes, until he was finally old enough to live by himself, and he did, but with Yuna.

The only pieces of information that might be relevant were the fact that his mother was murdered and his father disappeared, so she wanted to ask more about those points. Maybe they'd even shed some light on the other things that had been questionable, like the withdrawals of money, and the fact that his mother's murder hadn't been mentioned until now.

"Tidus… did anyone ever find out who killed your mother?" she asked softly, not wanting to upset him. They'd been doing so well so far, and she didn't want to ruin that now at such a crucial time.

He shook his head. "No, never found out who it was. It wasn't long before my dad disappeared. They said it was because of the grief that he left."

"You sound like you don't believe it," she commented.

"It doesn't matter what I think of it."

"Of course it does."

He hesitated. "Anyway, they searched for him for close to two years, but when they didn't find him… they just presumed him dead. It was a big loss to the community. Everyone loved my dad. He was a big celebrity with everybody. It took almost another two years for people to stop talking about it so much."

She noticed he sounded bitter about his father being so admired. She went with that. She'd always been suspicious of Jecht from the very beginning. "Were you and your dad close?"

He shrugged. "He was my dad, not my friend."

"Did you want him to be your friend?"

"No. I hated him."

She was taken aback by his bluntness, but was glad she was getting somewhere now. "Why did you hate him?"

"He was just a jerk. Thought he was better than everybody. And with the way people reacted, you'd think he really was perfect."

"Tidus… what reason was there not to think he was perfect? I mean, no one's perfect, but what part of him did those people not see? What did he do?"

After hesitating, he said, "He didn't do anything. It was just… his cocky attitude."

"Come on, Tidus… Tell me the truth."

"I told you! He didn't do anything to me!"

Her brow furrowed. "Did I ask you if he did anything to you? All I asked was what he did in general. There's something you're not telling me."

"There's nothing."

"Well then if it wasn't your father who made you like this, what other reason is there for you to commit such awful crimes?!" She hadn't meant to raise her voice, but she was getting so frustrated. He would start to tell her things, but then he'd stop himself at the very end. And the more and more he tried to deny it, the more and more suspicious she got.

He didn't say anything in response. He just locked his gaze on the floor and kept quiet.

"Tidus, please," she begged. "I want to help you."

"I can't be helped, Rikku."

"Of course you can. But you aren't letting me." She stopped and sighed, feeling tears welling up in her eyes. "We're so close. Why can't you just tell me what happened?"

He shook his head, a sadness reflecting in his eyes as well, although there were no tears. "I can't. You just… you couldn't understand."

"There's nothing you want to tell me?"

Before either of the could say anything else, the door at the end of the hall opened, a guard signaling that her time with him was up. She'd gotten far, but at the same time, nowhere at all. 

With a sigh, she turned away from him and started heading towards the door.

"Rikku?" he called to her.

She stopped walking, but didn't turn back to him or say anything.

"There is something I want to tell you."

"…What's that, Tidus?"

"Your face… it's as beautiful as your heart."


	14. Revealing The Truth

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A/N: Whoo! More reviews! Thank you sooo so much for them! This isn't the last chapter, but it's coming up very shortly, so give me your love before it's too late! lol, this is a very important chapter, as well as long too, so hopefully you'll enjoy it.

Tuesday, August 21st, 2003

3:32 pm

Luca Apartment Complex; apartment 3A

Rikku spent the rest of that day thinking about Tidus, as well as the following day, too. Not only about solving his case, but about the comment he'd made when she was leaving as well. She couldn't figure out what he meant by it. Well, maybe it wasn't a matter of what he meant. That was a little on the obvious side. But it was more like why he'd said it that was a puzzle to her. Was he really starting to feel something for her? And a better question was… was she starting to feel something in return?

She shook her head at her own thoughts. How could that be? Falling in love with a slaughterer? …But there was something about him that made her think he wasn't all bad. Something that he wasn't telling her. And something that she was going to have to find out on her own. 

The phone suddenly rang, interrupting her thoughts. She gladly welcomed it, and answered it promptly. "Hello?"

"Rikku? This is Greg."

She felt a little apprehensive. Greg usually only called her when he was going to be the bearer of bad news. She hoped this time, this one time, was different.

"Auron told me everything. Mitch was arrested, as was Auron, but I have a feeling Auron's case is going to turn out okay. Mitch on the other hand, will probably end up serving quite a few years."

Rikku was silent at first, then sighed and spoke. "Greg… you didn't call me up just to talk to me about Auron and Mitch… did you?"

Now it was his turn to hesitate. "No, no I didn't. I also have something very important to tell you about Tidus's case."

Now her interest was sparked. "What is it?"

"You have until tomorrow to get a report in. If you don't, the case will be terminated, and Tidus will most likely be executed."

Her eyes widened and she almost dropped the phone. "What do you mean I have until tomorrow?!" she shrieked. 

Greg sighed. "I'm sorry, Rikku, but your time is up. This case has been taking up all your time, and I'd like you to give something else a try. I believe you've done all you can do with him."

"No!" she cried. "I haven't! There's still something I can do! I know if I just had a little more time, I could change everything. I don't need much time, but certainly more than a day."

Greg was quiet for a few moments. "Rikku, I'm sorry. This isn't up to me. If you have any objections, you have to take it to the higher-ups. They're the ones running the show for real."

"Then I will," came the haughty response.

Greg's gravelly voice became more forceful. "You're not hearing me, Rikku. They aren't going to budge either."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Rikku asked, throwing her free hand into the air. "Sit around and do nothing? Just give up?"

"Rikku, even other administrators and I have discussed this extensively. We've been noticing you're becoming emotionally wrapped up in this case, and we'd like to end this as soon as possible. We'd like to get you onto other things."

"Which means letting someone who might just need a little extra help in his situation die, am I right?"

"Rikku…"

"Go to hell, Greg." The sound of the phone slamming down onto the hook was the only sound Greg heard next, before the hollow dial tone.

There was only one thing left to do now. She had to go talk to Yuna. Whether she provided her with any help or not, she had to give it a shot. She was her last hope. If doing so turned out to be a waste of time, Rikku really would have to throw in the towel.

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Wednesday, August 22nd, 2003

5:43 pm

Tidus and Yuna's residence; Besaid

Rikku gingerly approached the small town house where Yuna lived, alone at this point. She hadn't spoken to the girl at all since her visits with Tidus started, and she could only imagine what their meeting would be like at this point. 

She didn't know much about Yuna or her relationship with Tidus, but as far as she did know, they were very close for two years. Considering that fact, Yuna must be taking the fact that Tidus's life was on the line very hard.

Ascending the small set of steps and reaching the front door, Rikku took a deep breath and pushed the doorbell button. It wasn't long before a young woman answered the door, looking miserable and even a little rundown. She stared into Rikku's eyes for a few moments before speaking.

"Can I help you?"

Rikku tried not to hesitate, but it was difficult. She couldn't help feeling a little awkard, although she couldn't be completely sure why. Was it because of Tidus's comment as she was leaving? And now, being here talking to his girlfriend… Shaking the thoughts, she replied, "I'm Rikku, the criminal psychologist that's working on Tidus's case." She left out the 'student' part, afraid it would make her look inexperienced.

Yuna was silent for a while, just nodding. "What do you want from _me_?" came the quiet inquiry.

"I… I don't know if you've heard, but… I need to find out the reason behind the murders by tomorrow, otherwise -- "

"They'll kill him." Yuna was quick to finish Rikku's sentence, not wanting to hear it from anyone else other than her own vocal chords. 

Rikku was taken back a little, but nodded slowly. "Well, yes." She paused. "I was hoping you'd be able to tell me something he won't. I might be able to get it right from him with time, but… that's something I don't have much of."

More hesitation came from Yuna, but eventually she stepped aside, allowing the blonde girl to come in. She did, and looked around at the living room she was now in. It was small, but cozy. A couch was set in the middle of the room facing a television set. Tables and an armchair were scattered about as well, but that was basically it. Rikku went and sat on the couch, while Yuna sat on the armchair nearby.

"I already told the police everything I know," she said. "I gave them a report the day they caught him."

Rikku nodded. "I know, I read that report. But there's… nothing else you'd like to tell me?"

Yuna was quick and precise to reply. A little too quick and precise in Rikku's opinion. "Of course not. Do you think if I knew something that could save Tidus's life, I'd keep it to myself?"

Rikku shook her head. "No," she told her. "But there's another reason you might be hiding something. You're afraid, aren't you, Yuna?"

The brunette's brow furrowed. "What are you talking about?" she asked. "What would I be afraid of?"

"Him," came the low response. "You're afraid that if you say something to help save him, he'll be a little too close for comfort. And that's okay, Yuna. But he has the capacity to get better. Believe me, I know. And you telling me what you haven't told anyone yet isn't going to let him free so he can commit horrible murders all over again. It's going to get him off death row and into a place where he can get the help he needs. The help he deserves."

More silence came from Yuna, but eventually, she asked, "You're sure he won't…"

Rikku smiled on the inside. She was glad there had been something Yuna knew, because now she had a real chance at helping him. There was hope again. But she wasn't glad Yuna was so petrified to save him, so she said, "I'm positive. It's just getting him off death row. That's all it is, Yuna, I promise."

She nodded and stood up from her seated position slowly. "Come with me. There's something I want to show you first, Rikku."

Rikku looked puzzled, but stood as well and followed Yuna towards the back of the house until they reached the bedroom. Yuna approached one of the dressers and pulled open the second drawer. Instead of there being clothing inside like Rikku had expected, there were stacks of papers. They looked like mail and bills, but Yuna was more interested on what was at the very bottom of the drawer. 

After rooting around for a while, she finally pulled out a thick manila envelope. Turning to Rikku, she said, "Here. Look at this."

Rikku took the envelope as Yuna sat down on the edge of the bed watching her. She slowly opened the envelope and pulled out a few sheets of paper that had been folded up bulkily and saw the heading read, 'Kilika General Hospital.' 

As she read further down the pages, she saw it was a long list of hospitalization records. Most of them were for numerous broken bones, but a few were for more serious injuries, such as a ruptured spleen, a collapsed lung, and a severe concussion. "I don't understand," Rikku said as she shook her head. "What is this?"

"Those are Tidus's medical records from when he was younger, about six or seven."

Rikku's jaw dropped. "This is all for Tidus?" she asked in bewilderment.

Yuna nodded slowly. "Every single one of them."

"This is unbelievable… Why wasn't this on his file when we did a background check on him?"

Yuna sighed. "It was his father… Jecht."

Rikku's eyes widened even further at the mention of the man's name. She'd suspected him before, and now her suspicions were proved correct. "What do you mean? What does he have to do with any of this?"

"He took all those hospitalization records off file."

"…Why?"

"Well, you know how Jecht was a big blitzball superstar, right?"

Rikku nodded, remembering how both the file and Tidus had told he that.

"Because of that, everyone in the community loved him. He was well-liked and basically a celebrity in Zanarkand. So when he did that, he had it erased from both his and Tidus's file."

"Wait a minute… You're telling me Jecht did all this to Tidus?"

Yuna nodded. "Tidus was abused by him for a really long time. A few years."

"So Jecht didn't want to ruin his reputation and had all this deleted and acted like it never happened," Rikku surmised. 

"Right," Yuna confirmed. "And all of those medical bills cost a lot of money. Jecht had a lot of it in the bank and -- "

"That explains the withdrawals of money that were on Jecht's file!" Rikku cried.

"But there was no record of that money being spent, was there?"

Rikku shook her head. "No, there wasn't. Did Jecht have that taken care of too?"

"He did," Yuna told her. "So all of this was going on and all Jecht had to was talk to the right people and it was just forgotten."

Rikku shook her head. "That's awful…" Now she felt more pity for him than ever. "But hang on… Okay, so Tidus was abused by his father, who cleared every trace of it because of his reputation. That's what caused him to commit those murders?" She'd heard of people becoming mentally unstable from abuse, and she'd even heard of those people committing murders. But the scale of the Tidus's murders was just so large… She knew there had to be something else. 

"Not exactly," Yuna told her. "Jecht was… He wasn't only physically abusive. He abused Tidus mentally, too. He always told Tidus that he wasn't a man and that he would never be one, he was a baby, things like that. It may not sound like much, but it must've been so awful…"

Rikku nodded. "I understand," she said. "Go on."

"Well, among other things, Jecht also told him that the only way to be a man was to kill. If you could take someone's like, you had power and valiance. It made you a real man. I think… that's why Tidus did all those things. He wants to prove to Jecht that he really is the man he said he never would be."

"Oh my God…" Rikku breathed. 

There was silence, until Yuna asked, "So… is this going to help him? You think this is enough?"

"Oh, it's more than enough," Rikku replied. "Thank you, Yuna. You're saving this man's life."


	15. Judgement

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Thursday, August 23rd, 2003

12:09 pm

Besaid Police Department; Chief Officer Gregory Walters's officer 

The Chief Officer's expression held a myriad of emotion as Rikku finished up her report. As soon as she had left Yuna's she'd gone home and called Greg at his house, knowing it was late and he would no longer be at his office at that time. She'd told him she had a tremendous breakthrough in the case that he'd want to hear about right away.

He'd told her to come to his office first thing the following day, and Rikku didn't spare a moment. As soon as her eyes opened, she'd gotten dressed and headed out the door.

Now, here she was, finishing up her report, wondering what in the world his reaction would be, knowing what hers had been.

He glanced to the floor for a while, seeming to be pondering what he was going to say. It seemed like forever by the time he finally asked, "Yuna told you all that?" Did he sound disbelieving? 

She nodded quickly, but not too quickly, she made sure. "Every single thing. Do you think I made it up?"

Greg shook his head and held up a hand. "No, no, it isn't that. But she didn't say any of that when she was first interviewed. None of that at all."

Rikku placed a hand on her hip and almost rolled her eyes, but wanted to still have some respect for the man. "Well maybe after she found out he was going to be killed…" she stated matter-of-factly. 

Greg nodded again, the semi-disbelief he'd had fading. "Right. Well, I suppose you'll have to make a written report and send it to the Court. The Judge presiding at tomorrow's trial is Judge Kimahri of Kilika. Make sure to send it directly to him."

Rikku's nose crinkled at the name. "Kimahri?"

Greg kept a straight face, but his tone was one of amusement. "Like Rikku is any better."

She allowed herself to smile, but it only lasted a short while before she became serious again. "I'll get right on that, then. And one more thing…"

"What is it?"

Rikku hesitated, wringing her hands together a little. "You think this is going to help? It's going to save him?"

Greg seemed thoughtful. "I should think so. This is definitely strong, strong evidence. And coming from Yuna, it's a very reliable source."

Rikku nodded, a smile at bay. "Right. Okay then, I'll see you later."

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Friday, August 24th, 2003

2:09 am

Luca Apartment Complex; apartment 3A

Rikku glanced over at the pot of coffee that was resting on the counter in the kitchen, squinting to see, as her only light for the past five hours had been from the small lamp on the desk where she was working. The pot was empty, the second pot to be more precise, as was the mug beside her elbow. It was alright, though. She had finished. Why in the world she'd decided to write all of her report out by hand was beyond her cognition. Maybe it was because if she did it with a pencil and paper, she'd feel as though she put more heart and soul into it. Passing off the thought as one of the corniest things she'd ever drawn up, she grabbed the paper (four papers, actually) and set them carefully in the drawer of the desk.

She proceeded to take the mug and put it in the sink, next to the empty coffee pot, and then head to bed. She'd taken a shower long before she'd even started, and it was a smart idea. She would've gone to bed dirty at this point.

With a yawn, she changed into her pajamas and began to slide under the soft, cotton sheets of her bed… when the phone rang.

"This is frickin' endless…" she mumbled, reaching over to grab the phone, almost dropping it in the process. "Hello?" 

"Rikku?" came a familiar voice. "This _is _you isn't it?"

Rikku suddenly became more awake. "Tidus?"

"Oh good, it's you," he said, breathing a sigh of relief. "You sound different over the phone."

She didn't comment on what he said. "What are you doing calling me? Especially at two in the morning."

There was a short period of silence. "Look, I know what's going to happen to me tomorrow."

Her brow furrowed. Then, it made sense. He knew she needed to get a report in that day, and if she didn't, he'd be convicted and sentenced to death. She hadn't talked to him at all that day, so he figured she'd gotten no report, and he was doomed. "Tidus, you don't understand…"

He cut her off before she could explain to him what was really going on. "Just listen to me, Rikku. I have a lot of important things to tell you, and I know I won't get the chance if I wait anymore."

She sighed, knowing she wouldn't get a word in edgewise until he was finished. "Okay then. Go ahead. What is it you want to tell me?"

There was another hesitation. "I really appreciate all you've done, or rather, tried to do for me, Rikku. I really do. Believing in me when everyone else had given up, prying into my head, just being so damn stubborn… Maybe if I would've just told you…"

Rikku raised an eyebrow, thinking she could get even more hardcore evidence if he'd tell her what happened as well. She was still a little unsure about the Court taking Yuna's report as enough evidence. "Tell me what? There's still time, Tidus. There's still time to tell me everything."

"No," came the immediate response. "It's better this way. It really is."

"How can you say that?" she asked, getting caught up in the conversation with him and forgetting there was nothing for either of them to be worrying about.

"I told you before, Rikku. What I did… It's a sin, a crime, wrong. I have to be punished. I want to be punished."

Rikku shook her head, her blonde locks flowing with the movement. "I don't believe that. You don't deserve the punishment a murderer would receive. You know that." Now, she was slipping him hints that she really knew what was going on because of Yuna. Maybe he would pick up on it and stop freaking out.

More silence. "No," he said again. It seemed like that was his favorite word to say to her. "It doesn't matter why. The only thing that matters is what I did. I took lives, and for whatever reason, I have to face the truth… as well as the retribution."

"Tidus, if you'd just let me explain…"

"I'm not finished yet. I don't have a lot of time, and there's something else I have to say."

Sighing again, she asked, "What's that?"

"The way you've treated me… It's nice. I liked it. And I've grown to like you too. A lot. I might even love you."

Her eyes widened. "You can't be -- " 

"I love you, Rikku. Thank you for everything you tried to do."

The only sound she heard afterwards was the click as he hung up, and then a dial tone.

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Friday, August 24th, 2003

11:45 pm

Kilika Area Courthouse

Rikku wrung her hands anxiously. She kept shooting glances in the direction of Tidus and the attorney who was representing him. It hadn't been a long trial, so Rikku didn't know if it was even an actual trial. There wasn't even a jury. Just what she liked to call an "audience" that she was a part of, Tidus, the defense attorney, the prosecutor, and the Judge. But Greg called it that, so she took it upon herself to do the same.

Rikku had given her report to Judge Kimahri, who was a huge, burly man with hair so gray that it actually looked blue. In fact, all the hair on his body that she could see took on a bluish hue. She was a little amazed by that. Yuna hadn't been in the courtroom, but she'd agreed that if there were any questions regarding the report Rikku had made, she'd gladly appear in person if it was necessary. But only if it was necessary. The prosecutor made a case about how someone like Tidus couldn't be put into a mental hospital, that he needed to be destroyed. He made the comparison between Tidus and a mad, rabid dog. Both were crazy, both were dangerous, and both needed to be put down. 

Rikku didn't like that comparison at all. In fact, she'd found it very hard multiple times to just sit quietly and not yell out some kind of remark about how she knew Tidus, and knew he was really just a troubled young man who just needed the right kind of help. And after hearing his confession the night before (although, coming from a mentally unstable individual, she couldn't be sure how sturdy that confession stood, or whether or not it could be taken seriously) she wanted to be the one to provide that help.

The sound of the Judge's deep, growl-like voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "After hearing both the prosecutor and defense attorney, as well as reading the report from the criminal psychologist working on this case, I am prepared to state my verdict."

Once again, Rikku shot glances at Tidus like crazy, but he simply stood as the Judge spoke, not looking around whatsoever. He just stared straight ahead, like a wild animal who feared being sentenced to a life behind bars at a zoo. Although, if the same result applied, he would be much worse off than an animal going to the zoo. Rikku shook the thought from her head.

__

Stupid thoughts.

"According to the report made by Miss Rikku, it is stated that the murders committed were the result of many years of torment and abuse from his father, Jecht, and were not intentional, nor were they committed out of anything but pure insanity and desperation. Therefore, I have agreed to sentence Mr. Tidus to seven years at the Macalania Mental Hospital, where he will be treated for his mental instabilities and can hopefully one day be cured of his psychological disease."

Rikku couldn't have been happier. There was no doubt in her mind that she was the happiest person in that room. Maybe even happier than Tidus. Probably happier than Tidus.

She waited for everyone else to leave so it was basically just the two of them. She knew there would be a swarm of reporters outside the courthouse, and she wanted to speak with him before any of that madness started up.

She walked up to him slowly, tapping him on the shoulder to alert him of her presence, although he might've already known.

He turned to her, his crystal eyes not so dull and lifeless anymore. A smile formed on his lips. A smile she'd never seen cross his features. A smile she wanted to see more of. "I didn't know," was all he said at first.

She shook her head, smiling back. "You wouldn't let me tell you."

He even let out a quiet laugh that was different. He seemed different.

__

Of course he seems different, you idiot. He knows he's not being killed anymore.

"Well I have to thank you again, Rikku. I never would've been able to do any of this without you."

She gave a nod. "It's no problem."

"And about last night…" he began slowly, "I really didn't want to scare you or anything. And I don't think I meant "I love you" the way you thought I did."

She tilted her head to the side curiously. "Then… how did you mean it?" She wasn't disappointed, as love was something that took time, especially in the situation they were in. If he would ever in a million years love her, and vice versa, it would take a lot more than her saving his life to do so. 

__

Funny… that's how it works in the movies.

"I'm just very thankful for everything you've done. I wanted you to know that. Maybe telling you I loved you wasn't the best way to go about it. So maybe saying… I love what you did for me would be best."

"Ah, I understand now," Rikku told him, pointing a finger towards him. "Well you're very welcome, Tidus. I knew we'd make it."

"You did, didn't you?" he asked, sounding a little disbelieving of her doggedness, even still.

"I really did."

He let out a quiet laugh, then became serious again rather quickly. "You're going to stick with me, right? All through those seven years I have to be there?"

She nodded immediately. "You can count on it."

__

Friday, August 24th, 2003

7:23 pm

Besaid Criminal Asylum; outer hall

Rikku walked alongside Tidus, who was sandwiched in between her and the security officer that was escorting him down to the car waiting outside to take him to the Macalania Mental Hospital. She'd spent the rest of that day with him, just talking with him and helping him prepare for the move. She was so glad she'd been able to help him, and see to it he got the help he needed to get better.

She wouldn't visit him everyday, as she still had classes at college to attend, as well as other cases in the future to work on. But she promised him she'd never forget about him, as he was her very first real case. And she also promised to visit him at least once a month, just to check up on him and see how things were going. And that seemed fine with him.

The sun wasn't set yet, but it was beginning to, and painted a portrait of gold, red, and purple tints across the sky as they exited the large, stony building. The car was awaiting him, as expected, and as they stepped onto the sidewalk, Tidus turned to her.

He reached out to touch her cheek ever so gently. Not really in a romantic manner, but more so in a gratified way. "Thank you again," he said softly.

She felt her face grow warm as she smiled. "You're welcome… again."

The smile he'd had remained until he looked past her, and a look of horror replaced the peaceful expression that used to be there.

Rikku's brow furrowed. "What's wrong?" She turned to look at what he saw. Standing not more than twenty feet down from where they were stood a man. He had long, unruly russet hair, as well as a clean cut goatee, the polar opposite of his hair. He had dark eyes that seemed to be piercing straight into Tidus's very soul.

"Who is that, Tidus?" Rikku asked softly.

"…My father." 

**__**

Final Thoughts:

First off, let me say this has been quite a project. It took me about a year, if not more, I didn't really look, to write this. And yes, I did my research on the mental illnesses and their symptoms mentioned, court cases, and basic rules of criminal psychology, as well as some CSI information. I wanted to get it as close to the real thing as possible, and I hope I succeeded. That was a goal of mine, to be realistic. And original, and I think I succeeded on that one though, lmfao.

For those of you who wanted it to be a hardcore Yuna/Tidus or a hardcore Rikku/Tidus: Well, I tried. It was actually going to be a Tikku when I started it, so that's why there was hardly any Tidus/Yuna action. Plus, it's hard to make Yuna with him anyway, since he's in an asylum and she's… not. So Rikku would've made more sense. But sadly, not enough sense. Sure she spent time with him and grew close to him, but it's hard to make someone fall in love with a psycho (no matter how hot or pathetic he is) just like that. Remember the key word: realism. But I did my best, and I hope the small amounts of romance and fluff I did include made you happy.

Also, the ending… Yes, I know I'm just a horrible little person who deserves to be beaten over the head multiple times for doing this to you. But… it needs to be done. You don't think I'm gonna leave a fic like this all happy happy, with every end tied up, do you? Noo, that's just not the way Wolfy works. If I did that, you'd read it, like it, and be done with it, maybe never even think of ALU again. But with an ending like this, you keep guessing, and it's always on your mind. So I, in essence, take over your brain. lmfao, sneaky, ain't it? 

It's really up to you to decide what comes out of Jecht's reappearance. If you want to make it happy and nice, and that he and Tidus make up, sure, go ahead. If you wanna go all twisted and sadistic on me and make Jecht kill Tidus, or vice versa, then by all means, knock yourself out. Another reason I left it like that: You can decide for yourself. The writer doesn't always have all the control. That would just be unfair.

As for a sequel? Nah, probably not. I'd like to wash my hands of this. I could always pick up and write more, possibly titled "A Little More Unwell," but would that be beating a dead horse? In my mind, yes. It's best to leave the crowd after you've taken your bow, and I don't want to become repetitious or redundant, so I feel it's best to leave this fic as is and let it go out in a blaze of glory.

Now with all my talking up there, you may think I've forgotten about all my readers and reviewers. Well ha! I haven't! And to prove it to you…

Very special thanks to:

Fanfic-Lover, Xtreme Nuisance, MOP-TOP TIDUS, Saranomy, Angel1978, Dragon Tears Wing, Burning Ice, scorpion05, Ookami MX, DigiSim, lisa, Shy-Lil-Dreamer, Songstress Lenne, Baby Rose, Harmen, Elyang, Friday13th, ClaymoreMine, yeppers, tikku fan, Ling Ling, Princess of Mirrors, RikuBlader, The Jack of Spades, Vash the unholy, DeGonGin, Zeki, frost, dontbehatin, Neko Kuroban, ze love machina, Genjy0-Sanz0, violet-dream, AarCalen, angels kiss, Smirnoff Ice Lover, lulu, Kanmu, Dragon Scales1, shotgun, kingster0517, meaningless, Final Light Ceres, RS-021 ZAKUI, Noodles3, Sage of Hairspray and Vamp Queen

I'm sorry if I missed anyone, but it's 1 am, forgive me! You know I love and appreciate you too! 


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